The West Virginia Mountaineers (2-0) defeated the visiting Campbell Camels (0-2) inside Hope Coliseum on Thursday. WVU was led by a committee in the winning effort. West Virginia beat Campbell 73-65. Read more: First matchup between WVU men’s hoops and Campbell goes to the ‘eers
The first-ever matchup between the Mountaineers and Camels was a messy one. First-year WVU head coach Ross Hodge still came away with positive notes;
“Our guys did a good job of responding to game pressure… [they] defended well but still fouled too much,” Hodge said.
Editor’s note: This article has been updated following Ross Hodge’s postgame press conference.
First half
Seven-footer Harlan Obioha won the opening tip for WVU, and the contest got underway. Brenen Lorient broke the ice with a bank shot toward the end of the opening minute.
WVU dominated as the early stages of the half rolled on, holding Campbell scoreless for the first three minutes. The Mountaineers gathered an 8-0 lead before the Camels broke the ice offensively.
Four quick points from Campbell cut the WVU advantage in half in the ensuing minute. DJ Thomas sank a trey to start a back-and-forth sequence between the two squads. It was not an offensive sequence.
Both teams went ice cold to create an 11-6 stalemate, causing a three-minute scoring drought. Honor Huff sank the rare four-point play to put a temporary end to WVU’s offensive woes.
Notably, WVU freshman guard Amir Jenkins had one defensive possession around the 11-minute mark where he was a one-man press. His efforts forced the Camels into a shot clock violation.
First half, continued
Campbell cut the lead to six points with seven minutes remaining in the frame before WVU’s Obioha collected a point at the charity stripe.
Treysen Eaglestaff accounted for 10 of the Mountaineers’ first 25 points. It is a welcome statistic for WVU after the supposed sharpshooter failed to sink a field goal on Tuesday.
Back-and-forth barbs made for a fiery end to the first half. But Campbell fell flat from the field late, missing seven of eight at one point.
WVU utilized a timeout with 38 seconds left and closed out the waning moments by tacking on a free throw. Late miscommunication disallowed the Mountaineers from adding anymore. An unsuccessful heave at the buzzer kept Campbell from clawing closer.
At the break
The Mountaineers went into halftime with a 33-25 advantage over the Camels despite continued shooting struggles. WVU only shot 37.9% from the field through the first 20 minutes.
On the bright side, WVU shot 45.5% from behind the arc in the half and went to the charity stripe 11 times. Most of the Mountaineers’ issues offensively came from inside the paint, missing several layups.
Campbell senior Cam Gregory led the way for the Camels with nine points in the frame.
It was a scrappy half of basketball, too. WVU (9) and Campbell (11) combined for 20 personal fouls before the break.
Related: WVU vs. Colorado preview: Mountaineers aim to keep momentum at home
Second half
Campbell struck often in the opening minutes of the second half, including a three-pointer from DJ Smith that cut the Mountaineer lead to three.
The ensuing sequence was chock full of whistles and possession changes. WVU quickly teased a press defense, harkening back to the tough-nosed past of Mountaineer basketball. Campbell pierced the WVU defensive effort at times, but was unable to cross the 40-point mark until deep into the half. The Camels suffered a plus-three minute scoring drought leading up to an official’s timeout with 11:08 to go.
Campbell pulled within two points on more than one occasion in the latter half of the second frame. The Camels seemed to fight back every time WVU would find a short-lived groove.
A clutch three from Honor Huff with five minutes remaining gave the Mountaineers an eight-point lead and brought the Mountaineer faithful to their feet. The Brooklyn native surpassed the 1,500-point mark in his career with the score.
WVU and Campbell traded blows late, but Huff dominated for the home team down the stretch.
Lorient came through with a timely dunk to force a timeout by the Camels. WVU’s defense finished the battle as the final minute melted away, albeit slowly due to intentional fouls, securing the 73-65 victory.
Standouts
The Mountaineers benefitted from a full team effort on Thursday. The game plan involved less of Tuesday’s star Jasper Floyd and more of Huff, Thomas, Eaglestaff, and Obioha.
Brenen Lorient was the unsung hero of Thursday’s game, though. The 6’9 Florida native finished with 11 points, nine rebounds, five blocks, and four assists.
It was not pretty, but it got the job done. Coach Hodge said his team has yet to play to their best ball, unsurprisingly.
“You want to play your best ball in March, and we want to play in April,” Hodge said. “It’s going to be awhile before we play our best.”
Makes sense after only two games.
What’s next?
West Virginia is back in action against Lehigh at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 9. As always, Mountaineer basketball game coverage can be found on 100.9 FM The Torch and its nine affiliate stations.
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