Jasper Floyd Drops 25 to Lead WVU Basketball in Season Opening Win

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – A battle of the Mountaineers took place Tuesday as WVU basketball topped Mount St. Mary’s 70-54. Senior guard Jasper Floyd led all scorers with 25 points.

The starters for WVU were Floyd, senior guard Honor huff, senior forward Treysen Eaglestaff, senior forward Brenen Lorient and senior center Harlan Obioha.

Floyd drew first blood on the night with shot from the paint followed by a three-pointer. The senior guard had seven of WVU’s first nine points for a 9-6 WVU lead.

The WVU offense went stale and the visiting Mountaineers capitalized as a three-pointer from junior guard Mason So gave Mount St. Mary’s an 11-10 lead.

WVU took the lead once more with a transition dunk by Lorient, but a three by sophomore guard Anastasios Rozakeas brought the lead back to Mount St. Mary’s, 16-14 with 9:52 left in the half.

Rozakeus made another three-pointer to make the score 22-21as Mount St. Mary’s found a 25-22 lead shortly after. However, Huff made his first three-pointer of the night on a fast break to tie the game at 25-25.

WVU then took the lead with eight made free throws. With a 33-29 lead, Floyd made a layup for a halftime score of 35-29.

Floyd led all scorers with 15 points in the first half and added four steals. He and Lorient were the only two WVU players to finish the first half with multiple made field goals as he added seven points.

WVU struck first in the second half with another layup from Floyd. WVU went into the 12-minute timeout with a six-point swing as junior guard Morris Ugusuk and Huff connected from three for a 47-35 lead.

Mount St. Mary’s brought the score with six at 46-52, but the Mountaineers went on a 6-0 run caped off by a turnaround mid-range shot from freshman forward DJ Thomas.

Floyd helped pile on the scoring to put the game  out of reach for head coach Ross Hodge’s first victory as head coach.

WVU will take the court again at 7 p.m. Thursday when it hosts Campbell at the Hope Coliseum.

Find more coverage of WVU basketball at WV Sports Now.