Instant Reactions to West Virginia's Win Over Stetson

Morgantown, WV – The West Virginia Mountaineers (2-0) cruised to a 91-53 victory over the Stetson Hatters (0-3) Friday night at Hope Coliseum.

Freshman guard Miles Sadler led all scorers with 25 points to go with six assists, while junior guard Joson Sanon finished with 18 points with all his production coming from three-point range, hitting 6-of-8, senior guard Finley Bizjack finished with 11 points, and Mouhamed Sylla had 11 points and six rebounds.

Here are my initial reactions to the Mountaineers win against the Hatters.

Defense

West Virginia was slow to stop the penetration of Stetson early in the game and the Hatters were shooting over 60% to keep pace with the Mountaineers. WVU would slow them down, but Stetson shot 50% from the field at the break as WVU held a 13-point lead.

In the second half, the defense amped up and kept up intensity throughout the second half to hold the Hatters to 25% shooting from the floor, in addition to holding them scoreless in the final five minutes of action.

West Virginia also guarded the perimeter, limiting Stetson to 26.7% from three-point range.

While West Virginia was forcing the Hatters into tough shots, they forced 13 turnovers, just over half the number (24) from the season opener. Some credit can go to Stetson and the veterans for taking care of the ball.

There is plenty of work to do as is obvious by head coach Ross Hodge actions on the sidelines, but this group might be one of the most athletic teams in recent memory and under the guidance of Hodge and his staff, the best is yet to come.

Miles Sadler

Sadler is probably going to be a topic of discussion after every game.

Although its only game two, he set a career high of 25 points while recording six assists. He’s only a freshman and already has command of the offense.

He’s fast, quick and has incredible vision to find open teammates. But one of his key attributes is the passion in which he plays the game. Also, he gives maximum effort on both ends of the floor.

He’s two games away from his first big test in the regular season, especially on defense. So, one more game to continue to adjust to his teammates before head to Las Vegas for the Players Era Festival.

Joson Sanon

I had a feeling Sanon would provide a lift for the Mountaineers from the perimeter, and he delivered in the first half, hitting his first three pointers in the first half coming off the bench, which, naturally, helped the Mountaineers garner the 13-point half lead.

He’s now an efficient 7-11 from behind the arc this season and appears to be the early spark off the bench for the Mountaineers.

The frontcourt

Mouhamed Sylla and Amadou Seini have a combined three years’ experience between the two of them. They have the size, but are slow to react, whether on the boards or defensively. However, they have shown improvement since the first exhibition game against Maryland.

The question with these two is, can they improve enough to be major factors in the Big 12? Time will tell but the tough nonconference slate should prepare the duo by January.

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