MORGANTOWN, W. Va. — West Virginia men’s basketball earned its fourth straight victory to start the season on Friday after coasting past Penn 92-58 at the WVU Coliseum.
Bob Huggins ties Jim Calhoun for third on the Division I all-time wins list with 920 victories in his career. He now chases Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim, who has accrued 999 recognized victories and counting in his career with the Orange.
Erik Stevenson led the Mountaineer scoring attack with 21 points. The fifth-year transfer was nearly perfect from the floor after making 9 of 10 shots including four three-pointers.
The WVU offense was efficient as a whole, shooting 55.6 percent in the game. Three more Mountaineers — Tre Mitchell, Joe Toussaint and Kedrian Johnson — finished in double figures, adding 11 points each.
Still, the Hall of Fame head coach saw a lot
“Offensively, we weren’t sharp,” Huggins said.
Penn struggled against the Mountaineer defense, giving up 18 turnovers. WVU gave the ball up seven times, and six of those turnovers came in the first half.
Clark Slajchert was the sole Quaker to find a soft spot, dropping 20 points with five rebounds.
WVU lost the battle on the glass for the first time this season, posting a minus-9 in the rebounding margin. The Mountaineers grabbed just six offensive rebounds, but some of that can be attributed to the team’s hot shooting.
“We have a lot of work to do,” Huggins said. “We don’t rebound the ball the way we need to rebound the ball.”
The Mountaineers hit the road for the Phil Knight Legacy in Portland. WVU tips the event off on Thursday when it squares off against Purdue, followed by a meeting with either Gonzaga or Portland State on Friday.