WVU Basketball Survives Flat 2nd Half to Pull Off Win Over UMass

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — WVU basketball dictated the pace of play, matched UMass’s physicality and started the season 2-0 with a 75-69 victory over the Minutemen in the WVU Coliseum Friday evening.

UMass coach Frank Martin’s rough-and-tumble style of play didn’t seem to bother the hosts as the Mountaineers (2-0) matched the Minutemen (1-1) blow-for-blow for the entire night.

UMass led 6-2 after three minutes, but the Mountaineers exploded out of the first media timeout, going on a 23-4 run that put them ahead 25-10. 

Watch: WVU Basketball Gets Going with Coast-To-Coast Plays Vs. UMass

The key to that stretch was West Virginia’s ability to get to the free throw line. Of the Mountaineers’ 23 points during the run, 10 came from the charity stripe.

The Minutemen showed some life late in the half, thanks to seven free throws of their own, but WVU closed the frame on an 8-0 run to lead 45-28 at the break.

Javon Small started the burst with a three-pointer and freshman Jonathan Powell closed it off with a layup and a trey of his own.

The first half showed that the Mountaineers were able to match the Minutemen’s physicality both on the glass — WVU led 17-16 in rebounds — and on defense — UMass had just two assists against 12 turnovers.

For as dynamic as the Mountaineers were in the first half, they came out of the half much more flat.

WVU shot much worse in the second half, just 6-24, and let the door open for a UMass comeback.

The Minutemen, however, never sparked a run to capitalize and take the lead. A brief 10-3 run with 10 minutes left cut WVU’s lead to single digits, 58-49, but the teams traded baskets for the next few minutes as the lead continued to hover around 10 points.

Tucker DeVries led WVU with 17 points while Amani Hansberry was second with 16. Powell had 10 while Small scored 12. DeVries led with eight rebounds while Hansberry and Eduardo Andrew had a half-dozen each. As a team, WVU held a 36-34 advantage on the boards.

UMass was led Rahsool Diggins’s 17 points while Daniel Rivera scored 14. Jaylen Curry and Daniel Hankins-Sanford provided 13 apiece.

West Virginia has a week off before playing the Backyard Brawl at Pitt in the Peterson Events Center next Friday at 8 p.m.