West Virginia (7-2) cruised to a win on Wednesday night, beating Coppin State 91-49. They showed no mercy to an Eagle squad that saw their head coach be ejected early in the first half. Read more: WVU Men’s Basketball cruises to 91-49 win against Coppin State
Honor Huff led the way with 17 points, with 15 of them coming from the three-point line.
First Half
The game got underway with Harlan Obioha winning the tip for the Mountaineers. Brenen Lorient immediately got the first basket of the game after beating his man to the hoop with a straight line drive.
Coppin State’s Khali Horton was able to answer with a three-pointer on the other end. After a WVU turnover, Chris Morgan connected for two. Other than a pair of free throws, a scoring drought ensued. It would not end until almost two minutes later when Morgan tapped a missed shot in for another two.
Chance Moore ended West Virginia’s scoring drought with a layup at the 16:14 minute mark. After the first intermission, he hit a pair of free throws that were matched by a CSU layup.
Treyson Eaglestaff answered with a wing three that hit nothing but the bottom of the net. Just a minute later, pandemonium hit Hope Coliseum as Coppin State’s head coach, Larry Stewart, was ejected after he was given a second technical after the refs issued a technical foul on the Eagles’ bench.
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Honor Huff was only able to sink one of the four technical foul free throws. On WVU’s next possession, however, Lorient hit a corner three after getting the offensive rebound. That gave the Mountaineers their first lead since the opening score of the game.
After the Eagles tied it up with a layup on the other end, West Virginia answered with five straight points.
Amir Jenkins and Moore kept West Virginia on track with a couple of free throws before CSU’s Torrin Andrews was able to break the scoring drought with his own free throw. Moore continued his hot start with a ferocious dunk to answer.
Coppin State reeling after ejection
Right before the 8:00-minute timeout, DeMariontay Hall was able to connect on a layup to keep the Eagles somewhat in reach. Following the break, Jenkins delivered a bounce pass to Jackson Fields for an uncontested dunk. That gave West Virginia an 11-point lead that they would never look back from.
Huff later converted on a contested corner three that continued the Mountaineers’ efficient first-half shooting performance. Huff once again connected from deep after a short scoring drought from the Mountaineers.
The Eagles couldn’t get much going from the field as they went into the half down by eight, but in large part due to WVU’s missed opportunities on the offensive end.
Second Half
Lorient got the Mountaineers on board first in the second half with a layup, but Hassan Perkins scored with a jumper to give the Eagles their first points of the half. However, WVU answered with five-straight points after a layup from Obioha and a three from Huff.
After Jasper Floyd plucked it away from an Eagle, Lorient connected on a layup. Jenkins followed with his own layup shortly after.
Freshman DJ Thomas joined the scoring column with a tough basket around the rim that was assisted by Huff. He connected on another close to the rim after a Moore offensive rebound.
Floyd continued the Mountaineer onslaught with a and-one opportunity right before the 12:00 minute break, but couldn’t cash in on the free throw.
Lorient later hit another from beyond the arc to extend West Virginia’s lead to 22. Huff matched that with another three of his own with 7:24 left in the game.
Later in the half, Coppin State was issued another technical foul, where Huff managed to make one of two from the charity stripe.
Eaglestaff and Fields hit back-to-back threes to help extend the Mountaineers’ already comfortable lead with just over one minute to go in the contest. The final buzzer sounded off shortly after, with West Virginia winning 91-49.
Quick hitters
West Virginia once again started shaky in Wednesday’s matchup. This has been a constant theme in its recent home matchups, and tonight was no different as they let the Eagles get off to an early 9-2 lead.
It wasn’t until Ross Hodge called a timeout at the 16:34 mark that the Mountaineers switched gears. While it’s not detrimental when you are playing inferior opponents like Coppin State, WVU will need to start hitting its stride earlier when it gets into Big 12 play.
Beyond that, West Virginia had a number of standout performances tonight that should make Coach Hodge quite happy. Chance Moore is at the top of the list. He was aggressive on both ends against CSU from the time he entered the game until the final blow.
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Freshman Amir Jenkins also had an impressive night tonight as he continuously found open teammates around the basket. He’s someone who is quickly molding into a talented point guard that Hodge will be able to build around for years to come.
What’s next
The Mountaineers turn their attention to Wake Forest, as the teams face off in the Holiday Hoopfest at the Charleston Coliseum on Saturday, Dec. 6. Tipoff is slated for 6 p.m. in the state’s Capital.
As always, make sure to tune in to 100.9 FM The Torch or any of its nine affiliate stations to catch every minute of West Virginia basketball. And stay up to date with WV Sports Nation for more WVU Athletics coverage.
