Post by rainman on Dec 9, 2007 10:10:09 GMT -5
WVU dumps Duquesne, 92-68
By Mickey Furfari
For the Times West Virginian
MORGANTOWN— Joe Alexander scored a career-high 26 points Saturday as West Virginia dunked Duquesne, 92-68, before a Coliseum crowd of 10,071.
In making their record 7-1, the Mountaineers increased their winning streak to five while dealing the Dukes their third consecutive defeat.
“That’s a good team,” WVU coach Bob Huggins said of Duquesne. “This is a good win. All wins are good.”
He noted that his team had to play a 1-3-1 zone defense for the this time. It helped and the Mountaineers also did a good job against the visitors’ pressure defense.
Ron Everhart, Fairmont native and Duquesne coach, said simply, “We just got beat by a better basketball team. From start to finish, they took us out of everything we could do. They destroyed our defense.”
West Virginia shot a sizzling 60.6 percent in the first half and 55.9 for the game. The Dukes connected on only 41.5 percent.
Despite the ejection of 7-0 senior Jamie Smalligan with less than three minutes elapsed, the Mountaineers managed a 38-24 margin in rebounds.
Each team had 15 turnovers.
Alexander, who had 10 points at halftime, picked up the pace in the second half with prodding by Huggins. Besides adding 16 points to his game-high total, the 6-8 junior forward logged six rebounds and five assists.
Da’Sean Butler, 6-7 sophomore, had 15 points in the first half and wound up with 18 for the game. He also pulled down eight rebounds and had four assists.
Alex Ruoff scored 15 points. Reserve Wellington Smith topped all rebounders with nine.
Shawn James led the Dukes with 18 points. Reggie Jackson was next with 13.
After ties at 2, 4 and 10 along with two changes of the lead, WVU moved out to a 19-11 advantage and it was 21-15 at the first 10-minute turn.
The Mountaineers were in front by 48-37 at halftime, then steadily increased the lead throughout the final 20 minutes.
Biggest bulge of the night was 25 points at 80-55 with 7:16 remaining in the contest.
Alexander thought it was “a strange game.” He said, “We were scrambling all the time. Anxious, I guess.”
Butler said, “They pressured a lot. So we just had to get back to the ball. I shot with confidence and played good defense.”
Teammates got fired up when Smalligan was ejected from the game. He and others said it was retaliation for taking a hard violation the officials did not call.
They held up the game for about 10 minutes as the large crowd booed their decision. The arbiters for whatever reason appeared to be looking at instant replay.
“I want the ball,” said Ruoff. “Duquesne is a good team. They only lost to Pitt by five points.”
Huggins said, “Joe (Alexander) wants to be good. It’s just a matter of breaking old habits and making new ones.
“In the first half, he took a lot of shots falling away. It may seem like I am asking him to do a lot, but I wouldn’t ask him to do that much if I didn’t think that he could do it.”
Everhart said, “We didn’t rebound the ball very well. Alexander, Butler, (John) Flowers, those guys got after us and their shooting percentage was so high.
“We didn’t get back in transition well enough, and the game got out of hand. We played a good team that is coached well.
“I can guarantee you that. You just can’t guard them.”
By Mickey Furfari
For the Times West Virginian
MORGANTOWN— Joe Alexander scored a career-high 26 points Saturday as West Virginia dunked Duquesne, 92-68, before a Coliseum crowd of 10,071.
In making their record 7-1, the Mountaineers increased their winning streak to five while dealing the Dukes their third consecutive defeat.
“That’s a good team,” WVU coach Bob Huggins said of Duquesne. “This is a good win. All wins are good.”
He noted that his team had to play a 1-3-1 zone defense for the this time. It helped and the Mountaineers also did a good job against the visitors’ pressure defense.
Ron Everhart, Fairmont native and Duquesne coach, said simply, “We just got beat by a better basketball team. From start to finish, they took us out of everything we could do. They destroyed our defense.”
West Virginia shot a sizzling 60.6 percent in the first half and 55.9 for the game. The Dukes connected on only 41.5 percent.
Despite the ejection of 7-0 senior Jamie Smalligan with less than three minutes elapsed, the Mountaineers managed a 38-24 margin in rebounds.
Each team had 15 turnovers.
Alexander, who had 10 points at halftime, picked up the pace in the second half with prodding by Huggins. Besides adding 16 points to his game-high total, the 6-8 junior forward logged six rebounds and five assists.
Da’Sean Butler, 6-7 sophomore, had 15 points in the first half and wound up with 18 for the game. He also pulled down eight rebounds and had four assists.
Alex Ruoff scored 15 points. Reserve Wellington Smith topped all rebounders with nine.
Shawn James led the Dukes with 18 points. Reggie Jackson was next with 13.
After ties at 2, 4 and 10 along with two changes of the lead, WVU moved out to a 19-11 advantage and it was 21-15 at the first 10-minute turn.
The Mountaineers were in front by 48-37 at halftime, then steadily increased the lead throughout the final 20 minutes.
Biggest bulge of the night was 25 points at 80-55 with 7:16 remaining in the contest.
Alexander thought it was “a strange game.” He said, “We were scrambling all the time. Anxious, I guess.”
Butler said, “They pressured a lot. So we just had to get back to the ball. I shot with confidence and played good defense.”
Teammates got fired up when Smalligan was ejected from the game. He and others said it was retaliation for taking a hard violation the officials did not call.
They held up the game for about 10 minutes as the large crowd booed their decision. The arbiters for whatever reason appeared to be looking at instant replay.
“I want the ball,” said Ruoff. “Duquesne is a good team. They only lost to Pitt by five points.”
Huggins said, “Joe (Alexander) wants to be good. It’s just a matter of breaking old habits and making new ones.
“In the first half, he took a lot of shots falling away. It may seem like I am asking him to do a lot, but I wouldn’t ask him to do that much if I didn’t think that he could do it.”
Everhart said, “We didn’t rebound the ball very well. Alexander, Butler, (John) Flowers, those guys got after us and their shooting percentage was so high.
“We didn’t get back in transition well enough, and the game got out of hand. We played a good team that is coached well.
“I can guarantee you that. You just can’t guard them.”
