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No. 21 West Virginia beats College of Charleston

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MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) West Virginia coach Bob Huggins expects more from Jonathan Holton.

Holton led all scorers with 21 points and had 10 rebounds, lifting No. 21 West Virginia to an 86-57 win over the College of Charleston on Saturday night.

''I think he can be better than what he was,'' Huggins said. ''He's just scratching the surface of what he can be.''

West Virginia (7-0) is off to its best start since going 11-0 in the 2009-10 season when it reached the Final Four.

Jaysean Paige added 15 points for the Mountaineers and Juwan Staten had 10. Evan Bailey and Donovan Gilmore led the College of Charleston (2-4) with 13 points apiece followed by Joe Chealey's 10.

West Virginia led 38-29 at halftime and extended its lead to as many as 34 points on several occasions late in the second half.

The Cougars, under new coach Earl Grant, hit 47.7 (21 of 44) percent of their shots; however, the Mountaineers dominated with 66 field-goal attempts and in free throws (26 to 16).

Early in the second half, Charleston closed within seven, but West Virginia rattled off 14 straight points and took a 52-31 lead with 12:30 left.

For Holton, it was his second double-double in a Mountaineers uniform. He has double-figures for three consecutive games, and has done so in five of his last six contests. Williams had nine boards for West Virginia.

Holton, a 6-foot-7 junior who played at Palm Beach State Community College in 2012-13, connected on 9 of 13 field-goal attempts, made 3 of 4 free throws and posted three steals.

''He's just scratching the surface of what he can be,'' said Huggins. ''He can't guard every position. I hope he gets to that point. That's his ticket to being a great player.''

Paige knocked down 5 of 8 shots - going 3 of 5 from behind the 3-point line - in just 13 minutes.

Charleston's Bailey, a reserve, connected on 3 of 6 3-pointers.

TIP-INS

CHARLESTON: The College of Charleston lost to a ranked opponent for the second time this season. The Cougars fell to No. 24 Connecticut in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off on Thursday. The College of Charleston hasn't beaten a ranked opponent since defeating Baylor in November 2012.

WEST VIRGINIA: The victory was West Virginia coach Bob Huggins' 747th all-time, moving him into 14th place among all Division I coaches. He was tied with Phog Allen for that position before Saturday's game.

UP NEXT

West Virginia: hosts a non-conference game against LSU Thursday.

College of Charleston: hosts cross-town rival The Citadel on Tuesday.

LASTING EFFECT

West Virginia is 74-5 at home in non-conference games in the last 12 years, including 55 wins in the last 58 tries. Under Huggins, the Mountaineers are 40-3 at home against non-conference opponents during the regular season.

SPEAKING OF STATS

As of Friday, West Virginia was No. 1 among NCAA Division I teams, averaging 20.8 offensive rebounds per game. The Mountaineers were also first in total steals (85) and forced turnovers (144). They were second in steals per game (14.2) and turnover margin (12.8).

No Mountaineer ranks individually in the top 10s of any of these departments.

POURING IT ON

Though West Virginia won this game by 29, it was not the Mountaineers' largest margin of victory this season. That came four days ago when they routed VMI 103-72 in Charleston, W.Va.