Mountaineers Extinguish Blazers

Morgantown, WV - The West Virginia Mountaineers (8-2) defeated the UAB Blazers 81-70 Saturday night inside the WVU Coliseum. West Virginia guard Kedrian Johnson led the Mountaineers with 17 points while forward Emmitt Mathews Jr was a rebound away from a double double, finishing the night with 16 points and nine rebounds.

UAB won the opening tip and guard Eric Gaines immediately put the Blazers on the board with an emphatic slam dunk to open the game.

The Mountaineers answered on their opening possession after guard Erik Stevenson found an open Jimmy Bell Jr. along baseline led to a two-handed slam and the game was tied at two.

A slow offensive start led to a 15-11 advantage for West Virginia at the midway point of the first before UAB went on a 7-0 run and grabbed a three-point lead.

Emmitt Matthews Jr. ended the run with consecutive three, igniting a 16-4 run as the Mountaineers grew its lead to eight with 3:43 remaining in the first half.

West Virginia took a 40-31 lead into halftime with Matthews and guard Kedrian Johnson leading the Mountaineers in scoring with 11 points apiece. Matthews also grabbed five rebounds.

Bell started the scoring for the Mountaineers in the second half, but WVU committed four early second half turnovers and UAB put together a 16-3 run and grabbed the 47-45 at the 14:32 mark.

The Mountaineers quickly reclaimed the lead after forward James Okonkwo went 1-2 from the free three line, then Erik Stevenson hit five consecutive free throws to give West Virginia a four-point lead.

Mitchell buried a three in transition to increase the Mountaineers lead to seven midway through the second half and Jimmy Bell Jr pushed the advantage to nine, 62-53 with back-to-back buckets.

Kedrian Johnson hit a tough contested one-handed jumper along the baseline as the shot clock expired, extending the WVU lead to 13 with 6:32 left to play in the game.

The Mountaineers led by as many as 15 in the second half before coming away with an 81-70 victory.

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