No. 12 West Virginia Handles Wildcats

Morgantown, WV – The No. 12 West Virginia Mountaineers (17-4, 5-3) got back in the win column Saturday afternoon with a 66-57 redemption win over the Kansas State Wildcats (9-12, 2-6). West Virginia forward Derek Culver recorded his fifth double-double of the season and led all scorers with 19 points and 14 rebounds.

Emmitt Matthews started the scoring for West Virginia after Jordan McCabe pumped faked from the corner, then drew the defense with him down the baseline before kicking out to Matthews on the right wing for an open three.

West Virginia sustained a steady dose of Derek Culver, feeding the 6-10 255-lb sophomore and the big fella help himself running the floor as Jermaine Haley hit him in the paint and Culver delivered a two-handed slam for two of his nine first half points and to put the Mountaineers up 20-16.

The Mountaineers carried the momentum into a 10-0 run and Brandon Knapper capped it off with a three from the left side to put the Mountaineers up 25-16 at the 5:27 mark of the first half.

Kansas State continued to hang around and a quick 6-0 spurt had the Wildcats with two before Culver found a cutting Matthews down in the post for the lay-in to push the Mountaineer lead to four. However, Levi Stockard got his first bucket and Matthews went 1-2 from the foul line as West Virginia took a 30-27 lead into the break.

West Virginia committed four turnovers and went 1-3 to start the second half before Chase Harler got the crowd on their feet and Derek Culver delivered a beautiful spin down on the baseline for a one-handed jumper that got a reaction from the crowd.

Taz Sherman would nearly turn the ball over but made the ball found it’s way back to Sherman and he buried a three off the right wing pushing the West Virginia lead to seven and Sean McNeil drove to the basket and dished it off to Derek Culver to maintain a seven-point advantage, 42-35 with just over 12 minutes remaining in the game.

On the ensuing possession, Miles “Deuce” McBride picked his spot and got to it just off the left baseline, then Oscar Tshiebwe snared an offensive rebound drawing the foul on his way back up and sinking both free throws to put West Virginia up 47-35.

Kansas State steadily battled got back within eight but an immediate pass out of the post from Culver to McBride at the top of the key for three put the West Virginia lead back into double digits and to seal Chase Harler buried a three with 1:41 remaining to seal the game as the Mountaineers went on to win 66-57.

The Mountaineers are back in action Wednesday night as they host the Iowa State Cyclones at 7:00 pm on ESPN2.

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