WVU cruises in season opener

The Mountaineers defeat Elon 92-47

Morgantown, W.V.- The “Huggstown” fans witnessed a dominating second half performance by their blue and gold en route to a convincing win over scrappy Southern Conference foe Elon.

WVU entered the locker room at halftime with a 38-27 lead over the Elon Phoenix. A 54-point outburst in the second half paced the Mountaineers to a 45-point win in the first game of the 2008-09 season. Elon, a member of the Davidson and Stephen Curry-dominated Southern Conference, showed tremendous resiliency in the first half, but turnovers would plague the Phoenix and ultimately allow West Virginia to pull away. “Our defense was OK,” said WVU head coach Bob Huggins. “We had some breakdowns. They turned it over 15 times in the first half and nine in the second. We tried to stay in front of them a little bit more in the second half than we did in the first.”

Leading West Virginia was senior Alex Ruoff, and Junior Da’Sean Butler, who both finished with 19 points. Ruoff began the game by showing off his improved post-up game, backing down his defender before hitting a drop-step layup to give the Mountaineers their first official basket of the season. Butler was an efficient 8-for-13 shooting and also pulled in six rebounds. Both also showed their quickness as they led their team with six steals apiece.

The Mountaineers extended their 11-point halftime lead to twenty on a Butler 3-pointer with 12:48 left in the second half. This was part of a 29-5 run, which was capped by a 3 from the right wing by freshman Devin Ebanks to make it 80-41 with 5:29 remaining. West Virginia outscored the Phoenix by a 54-20 advantage in the second half. West Virginia shot 58.6 percent (34-for-58) from the field, while Elon only managed to shoot 36.4 percent (16-for-44). Elon was led by Adam Constantine and Brett James, who each had 12 points.

Second chance points is something the Mountaineers must thrive on this year in the tough Big East conference. With athletic players like Butler and Ebanks, West Virginia should cause their opponents many problems on the offensive glass. This was the case on Saturday as WVU outscored the Phoenix 22-5 on second chance points. “We just got overwhelmed with the athleticism and the physicality was a bit much for us,” said Elon coach Ernie Nestor. “It’s tough way to start the season because you come in and probably play the best team that you are going to play all year. They’re an excellent basketball team, well coached, and athletic.” This is a good early sign for the Mountaineers, a 26-win team and “Sweet Sixteen” member of a year ago. Their lack of size will pose major problems down the road in conference play if West Virginia can’t get to the glass on offense.

In the Big East, West Virginia will give up a lot of size to the likes of UConn, Louisville, and Pittsburgh, among others. They must get points from sources other than in the paint. One of these sources must be the free-throw line. With the amount of athleticism Bob Huggins possesses, his team must get to the basket and get to the line. The Mountaineers could use much improvement in this area, as they only shot 58.3% (14-24) from the free-throw line.

West Virginia’s announced attendance of 10,250 on Saturday was just the second time in the 38-year history of the WVU Coliseum that more than 10,000 showed up for a November game (the other was for LSU when Jerry West’s number was retired).

Elon will return home to take on the Southern Virginia Knights at 7:00 PM on Tuesday, while West Virginia will return to action at home this Thursday against Longwood, tip-off is also scheduled for 7:00 PM.

by Doug Potter
BigEast-fans.com West Virginia Correspondent

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