No. 23 West Virginia blew a 15-point, second-half lead and narrowly averted a major upset Thursday night, edging Marist 84-78 in the first round of the AdvoCare Invitational at HP Field House in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

Jevon Carter led the Mountaineers (4-1) with a game-high 20 points, snapping a 67-67 tie with 5:22 left by canning a 3-pointer. Sagaba Konate added a 14-point, 10-rebound double-double, while Daxter Miles Jr. stuffed the stat sheet with 12 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.

Guard David Knudsen paced the winless Red Foxes (0-4) with 19 points, converting 5 of 9 3-point attempts. Brian Parker chipped in 14, and Isaiah Lamb came off the bench to score 10 points.

West Virginia was a 29 1/2-point favorite entering the game against a lightly regarded opponent, and although it missed a pile of point-blank looks and 3-pointers, it still owned a comfortable 65-50 lead on Teddy Allen's tip-in with 9:21 remaining.

However, Marist made a stunning 17-2 spurt, with Knudsen hitting three consecutive 3-pointers in a 68-second span to fuel the charge. Parker sank a jumper with 5:36 left to finish the run, but the Red Foxes never could get the lead and the ball.

The Mountaineers canned only 26 of 74 shots from the field (35.1 percent), including a miserable 8 of 38 (21.1 percent) on 3-pointers, but saved themselves by hitting 14 of 16 free throws in the second half and 24 of 29 for the game.

West Virginia enjoyed a 26-11 edge in points off turnovers, forcing 24 miscues from Marist. The Red Foxes lost despite sinking 55.3 percent of their field-goal attempts.

Next up for the Mountaineers is a Friday semifinal against Central Florida.