Mountaineers Finish Convention Slide at Cincinnati – West Virginia College Athletics

Javon Small scored a game-high 19 factors and Joseph Yesufu contributed 16 factors off the bench to guide West Virginia to a 63-50 victory at Cincinnati Sunday afternoon at Fifth Third Enviornment.
 
The reeling Bearcats, a preseason prime 25 alternative as soon as ranked as excessive as 14^th earlier this yr, has misplaced 4 straight convention video games and is now 2-8 in Large 12 play.
 
West Virginia, sporting its 1959 Jerry West period throwback uniforms utilized in its 64-57 victory over Iowa State, snapped its three-game shedding streak and now exhibits three league highway victories at Kansas, Colorado and Cincinnati with one other one arising on Wednesday night time at TCU. West Virginia’s Large 12 highway report was 2-25 over the prior three seasons mixed.
 
“This one feels so much higher,” a relieved West Virginia coach Darian DeVries stated afterward.
 
At present, WVU additionally ended its current development of gradual begins by constructing a 40-25 halftime lead, whereas additionally capturing a lot better from 3-point vary, due to Yesufu going four-for-four and Small making four-of-seven.
 
General, West Virginia made half of its 18 triples and completed the sport 49% total from the ground.
 
Cincinnati (12-9) had a depressing time capturing the basketball and if not without spending a dime throws, right this moment’s margin would have been a lot worse.
 
The Bearcats have been 11-of-12 from the road, in comparison with simply 17-of-54 from the ground. Many of the misses got here from Day Day Thomas (10), Jizzle James (eight) and Simas Lukosius (six).
 
“I believed defensively, the fellows got here out with an excellent focus,” DeVries stated. “We put plenty of stress on beginning the sport off higher as a result of we had dug ourselves such large holes that by the point we got here out of it, it was an excessive amount of.”
 
West Virginia’s largest lead was 22 factors with 7:47 left on Yesufu’s wing 3. 
 
Cincinnati switched to full-court strain whereas West Virginia was content material to run clock, ensuing within the Bearcats scoring eight straight factors earlier than Toby Okani’s dunk ended the run.
 
A Yesufu runner, a Dillon Mitchell jumper and Rayvon Griffith’s 3 have been the one baskets made by each groups throughout the recreation’s closing 4:24.
 
The Mountaineers turned 14 Bearcat turnovers into 20 factors and outscored them 30 to 22 within the paint.
 
Thomas was the one UC participant to achieve double figures with 10.
 
Cincinnati had 4 discipline aim droughts within the first half lasting almost three minutes every, together with the final 3:55 when all it may get have been free throws from Lukosius and Josh Reed.
 
“Even once we made errors, I believed our connectivity of protecting for each other was actually good and that led to some alternatives for our offense to get going,” DeVries stated.
 
The Mountaineers additionally did an excellent job of taking away UC’s lob recreation to 7-foot heart Aziz Bandaogo, who completed with just one discipline aim in 4 makes an attempt in 18 minutes of motion.
 
“That is a tough recreation plan to execute typically since you’ve bought a guard coming down hill and so they like to throw lobs. Clearly the bigs did a very good job of not giving that up, however then the guards of not getting (overwhelmed) was the most important key to all of it,” DeVries defined. “They needed to get again in entrance so our bigs didn’t have to remain fairly as lengthy (to assist) and get put into indecision of do I assist, or do I’m going again to the large?”
 
Amani Hansberry grabbed 11 rebounds for the Mountaineers whereas Mitchell completed with 10 boards for the Bearcats.
 
A number of gamers from final yr’s Cincinnati workforce that routed WVU 92-56 within the common season finale have been on the ground for this afternoon’s recreation as effectively.
 
West Virginia, now 14-7 total, evens its convention report at 5-5, which places it proper in the course of the Large 12 standings one recreation behind 6-4 BYU, Baylor and Kansas.
 
WVU stays on the highway to play at TCU on Wednesday night time. The Horned Frogs performed Colorado right this moment in Fort Value.