Terrell Miller Jr. had a season-high 27 points with five 3-pointers and added 17 rebounds and Ja Morant had 14 points for the Racers (26-7), who got only one field goal from leading scorer Jonathan Stark.
The loss snapped a 13-game winning streak for the Racers, who came in sporting the second longest streak in Division 1 behind Gonzaga's 15-gamer.
Carter, the two-time Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, had six of the Mountaineers' nine steals. His steal and assist on a Logan Routt fast-break dunk capped a 7-0 run for a 58-45 lead with 11:58 remaining, and the Racers never pulled closer than 11 points.
Stark, the Ohio Valley Conference regular-season and tournament MVP, was 1-for-12 from the field and 1 of 10 on 3-pointers while being hounded by Carter and others. He was averaging 21.8 points a game and was the only active Division I player with 2,100 career points and 500 career assists. He spent his first two years at Tulane.
West Virginia will meet Marshall in an all-West Virginia second round game Sunday. The schools are just over 200 interstate miles apart with West Virginia in Morgantown and Marshall in Huntington.
Ahmad's 3-pointer gave the Mountaineers a 32-22 lead late in the first half, and he scored seven points in the final three minutes for a 38-29 halftime edge. Stark and Miller scored the Racers' final 14 points of the half.
--Field Level Media
Murray St. | West Virginia | |
Terrell Miller Jr. 27 | Scoring | Jevon Carter 21 |
Jonathan Stark 4 | Assists | Jevon Carter 8 |
Terrell Miller Jr. 17 | Rebounds | Sagaba Konate 7 |
Terrell Miller Jr. 6 | Free Throws Made | Teddy Allen 6 |
Terrell Miller Jr. 2 | Steals | Jevon Carter 6 |
Temetrius Morant 3 | Blocks | Sagaba Konate 3 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Murray St. | 68 | 41.2 | 7-23 | 19-23 | 12 | 34 | 6 | 5 | 16 |
West Virginia | 85 | 51.6 | 4-11 | 17-24 | 18 | 30 | 4 | 9 | 8 |