Mountain State Times

WVU Downs Navy Wednesday on Military Appreciation Night

West Virginia shot 55.2% from the floor to deposit Navy 85-64 Wednesday night before 10,277 entertained basketball fans at the WVU Coliseum.
 
It was Navy's first appearance in Morgantown since Feb. 5, 1972.
 
"First of all, I want to thank the 10,277 who came today. We appreciate it and I love that fact that you love and root for the Mountaineers the way that you do," West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said.
 
The Mountaineers (7-2) tonight had little trouble against Navy's rec-league 2-3 zone, the Mountaineers connecting on 75% of their first 19 field goal attempts to build an 18-point lead.
 
But Navy also shot the ball well, the Midshipmen hitting on 55.6% of their first-half shot tries to hang around trailing by just 10 at intermission. Austin Benigni's three-point play reduced West Virginia's lead to five, 54-49, with 14:18 left in the second half before the Mountaineers pulled away.
 
Emmitt Matthews Jr. answered Benigni with a jumper, a Tre Mitchell 3 got the lead to nine and another Mitchell triple pushed the margin back to 13.
 
"We were playing guys that hadn't had a whole lot of playing time," Huggins said. "Our older guys kind of settled down a little bit and we got into running a little bit better offense."
 
Four different Mountaineers reached double figures, led by Mitchell's 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting. Erik Stevenson made his first five shots of the game and finished with 13, while Joe Toussaint came off the bench to contribute 13 and Kedrian Johnson scored 11.
 
Seven of the 12 players who got into the game tonight shot at least 50% from the floor against Navy, which falls to 5-4.
 
Benigni scored a game-high 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting. Navy's Tyler Nelson, a 15.1-points-per-game scorer, was held to just 6 tonight on 2-of-8 shooting.
 
Defensively, WVU limited Navy to just 38% shooting in the second half.
 
West Virginia was actually outscored in the paint, 32-24, and off the bench 31-30, but made up for it by making 11-of-24 from 3-point distance and controlling the glass 38-23.
 
"We play pretty well and then we kind of get happy," Huggins said. "We just don't continue to bear down. We come out and run things really well and hard and then we just kind of stop.
 
"We didn't adjust to ball screens very well again and we've got to figure something out and adjust or it's got to be played the way the rules say it's got to be played," Huggins added.
 
Stevenson paced the Mountaineers with seven rebounds to go with five assists. 

Emerging freshman forward Josiah Harris logged 11 quality minutes tonight and contributed 7 points, three rebounds and a steal. 
 
"He's a heck of a player for a freshman," Huggins said. "He's going to continue to keep getting better and better for us."
 
Huggins was also complimentary of the play of Seth Wilson coming off the bench when Navy cut the lead to five.
 
West Virginia evened the series against Navy 7-7, although most of the games between the two were played before World War II.
 
WVU's marketing staff did a spectacular job recognizing the men and women who serve our country as part of Military Appreciation Night in recognition of the 81st anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor that severely damaged the USS West Virginia.
 
Military personnel received discounted tickets and were recognized throughout the game.
 
WVU continues it four-game homestand on Saturday against 7-1 UAB in a special 6 p.m. matchup at the Coliseum.
 
The Blazers, coached by Andy Kennedy, are currently 55th in the NET rankings and will be bringing one of college basketball's most exciting players in 5-foot-11 guard Jelly Walker, a 25.7 points per game scorer. The former Seton Hall and Tulane transfer is coming off a 30-point performance last Sunday in UAB's 76-68 victory.
 
Tickets for Saturday's Family Day game are still on sale and can be purchased through the Mountaineer Ticket Office by logging on to WVUGAME.com. 

Original source can be found here