West Virginia Bounces Back with Win over Portland State
Portland, OR - After falling to Purdue in the opening round of the PK 85 Legacy Tournament, the West Virginia Mountaineers (5-1) rebounded with an 89-71 win over the Portland State Vikings (2-4) Friday night. Six Mountaineers hit double figures with forward Trey Michell leading the way with 16 points followed by Emmitt Matthews Jr.'s 14 points.
Portland's leading scorer, guard Jorell Saterfield, scored the game's first bucket on the Vikings opening possession with a three for the early advantage. However, West Virginia quickly grabbed the lead with a 5-0 spurt, capped off with an old-fashioned three-point play.
Portland answered on the ensuing possession on a three from Bobby Harvey before West Virginia forward Trey Mitchell scored four-straight to spark an 8-2 run as the Mountaineers took a 13-8 lead at the 15:09 mark of the first half.
Mitchell and the Mountaineers continued their offensive output, extending the run and building a 20-10 lead before taking a 28-15 advantage near the midway point of the first half behind 12-15 shooting rim the field.
West Virginia led by as many as 14 before Portland went on a 7-0 run to get within seven, capped off by another Woods three with 6:14 remaining in the first half.
However, despite the Mountaineers committing 10 first half turnovers, WVU forced Portland to 16 turnovers while remaining efficient from the floor (19-29), producing 53 first half points and a 17-point advantage at halftime with guard Kedrian Johnson leading all scorers with 12 points and Trey Mitchell went into the break with 10.
Nov 25, 2022; Portland, Oregon, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers guard Kedrian Johnson (0) takes the ball to the basket during the first half on a fast break against the Portland State Vikings at Moda Center.
Troy Wayrynen-USA TODAY Sports
The Mountaineers opened the second half with Erik Stevenson delivering an alley-oop to Emmitt Matthews Jr, and a pair of free throws from Matthews on the following possession to put WVU up 57-36 in the first minute of the second half.
Three Mountaineer turnovers in three minutes opened the door for a Portland 10-0 run to get the Vikings within 10 at the 13:02 mark of the second half.
West Virginia guard Joe Toussaint hit consecutive buckets to end the Portland run and put WVU back up 14 but Isaiah Johnson would drive to the bucket, slammed it home and drew the foul but missed the free throw coming out of the under 12-minute media timeout as the Mountaineer advantage held steady at 12.
The Mountaineers steadily built their lead back up to 19 with 6:27 left to play before extending the advantage to 23 with just under two minutes to play as the Mountaineers coast to a 89-71 victory.
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