National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
West Virginia 84, Radford 57
When: 7:00 PM ET, Tuesday, December 20, 2016
Where: WVU Coliseum, Morgantown, West Virginia
Officials: # Roger Ayers, # Kelly Self, # Michael Stephens
Attendance: 8311

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- Jevon Carter ripped the ball loose, fired an outlet pass downcourt, got the return on a behind-the-back bounce pass from Tarik Phillip and layed in the scoop shot.

No. 11 West Virginia was on its way to dominating another mid-major opponent, routing Radford 84-57 on Tuesday night.

"That's just how we play -- we give it up to each other," said Carter, who finished with 15 points on 5-of-5 shooting and dished out five assists.

Esa Ahmad scored 17 points and the Mountaineers (10-1) continued forcing turnovers in droves -- 29 this time -- with their relentless 94-foot "Press Virginia" defense.

West Virginia, which won its sixth straight game since a Nov. 25 loss to Temple, got 13 points and five assists off the bench from Phillip. His flashy pass was risky -- after all, Carter was benched by coach Bob Huggins last year after throwing away a behind-the-back try -- but Phillip laughed and said, "I take those chances, because I like my odds."

Radford (4-7) kept it respectable for the opening 10 minutes, trailing only 23-18 after Justin Cousin banked in a 3-pointer. But from there the Mountaineers closed the half on a 30-4 run, forcing 13 turnovers while yielding only 10 shots in the stretch.

The 53-22 bulge at intermission didn't lessen Huggins' intensity. He yanked his starters barely a minute into the second half after a couple sluggish possessions, and his mood soured when Radford rallied to outscore West Virginia 35-31 over the final 20 minutes.

Huggins also groused over his team making only 15 of 31 free throws and being outrebounded 40-37.

"Why do you spend 12 months getting ready to play these games, and then not embrace these games when you put all that work into it?" he said. "If you miss free throws, fumble balls, you're not ready to play."

West Virginia has coasted to an 8-0 home record, winning by a margin exceeding 41 points, which led some players to explain the lapses in focus.

"We get up so big in the first half and everybody's acting like we've done won the game already," Phillip said. "I don't want to say we take plays off but that's really what we do. We've got to maintain the intensity for 40 minutes."

Cousin finished with 12 points and Caleb Tanner added 10 for Radford, which fell to 0-6 in road games. Forward Ed Polite, who came in averaging a double-double, was held to five points and five rebounds with six turnovers.

NOTES: Huggins celebrated his 801st career coaching victory. ... West Virginia improved to 6-0 against Radford. ... The Mountaineers came in creating a national-best 26 turnovers per game and forced 21 by halftime.
Top Game Performances
 
Radford   West Virginia
Justin Cousin 12 Scoring Esa Ahmad 17
Christian Bradford 4 Assists Jevon Carter 5
Sterling Christy 10 Rebounds Nathan Adrian 6
Christian Bradford 5 Free Throws Made Esa Ahmad 4
Randy Phillips 2 Steals Jevon Carter 3
Darius Bolstad 1 Blocks Maciej Bender 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Radford 57 37.0 8-19 15-25 10 33 1 6 29
West Virginia 84 49.2 5-14 15-31 14 36 6 11 10