MORGANTOWN — Da’Sean Butler peppered the nets for 38 points Saturday afternoon as the West Virginia University men’s basketball team defeated Mountain State’s Cougars 98-78 in an exhibition game.
A Coliseum crowd of 9,035 saw the Mountaineers jump out to 20-2 lead at the start and never look back. While it trailed all the way, the NAIA power never quit.
The Cougars, behind 58-41 at halftime, pulled to within 10 points early in the second half at 60-50, 62-52, 64-54 and 66-56 before wilting down the stretch. That’s when WVU opened up a 75-59 margin.
“They are hard to guard because they are so small,” WVU coach Bob Huggins said of the Cougars. “They spread us, and we aren’t great yet at guarding the ball. When you take (Joe) Mazzulla and (Alex) Ruoff out and play young players, they haven’t quite figured it out yet. We’ll get there.
“I don’t see where it helps to bring somebody in and win by 50. You know Bobby Bolen’s teams are going to be competitive. And they play hard. They have good players.”
Bolen said, “We came out of the gates with a deer-in-the-headlights look, and then Butler and Ruoff started to drain those threes. It got ugly quick, and I thought as the game went on our guys didn’t quit.
“I thought we gave it what we had. In the second half, I think we played hard and made some things happen. (The Mountaineers) have been in the weight room, and the recruits are all 6-9 and long.
“They have a good team, and they are going to play hard every single possession, that’s a given. They’re not going to take anyone lightly.”
Butler, a 6-7 junior forward, said the last time he scored 38 points was in the sixth grade. He made 11 of 21 shots, including 4 of 8 from three-point range, and cashed 12 of 19 free throws. He also pulled down a team-high 11 rebounds.
“On the foul shots I missed, I had the same form but was leaning it,” he said. “I’m going to work on my three throws.”
Three other Mountaineers scored in double figures. Ruoff, 6-6 senior, tallied 18 points, freshman Kevin Jones 14 and sophomore John Flowers 10.
Anthony Pigram, 6-0 junior guard, led Mountain State with 28 points, 16 in the second half. Tony Brown, 6-1 senior guard, chipped in 19.
Mazzulla, 6-2 junior, dished out a game-best six assists. He scored just one point.
“I had jitters at the beginning, but my chief role is to set up plays, and you want to make the right plays,” he said. “My scoring will change from game to game. Mountain State is a good team. They take a lot of shots.”
West Virginia shot a sizzling 52.8 percent the first half but only 33.3 percent the last 20 minutes for an overall 42.7 percent. MSU went from 40.5 to 32.4 and finished at 36.6 percent.
The Mountaineers managed a 58-39 margin in rebounds and had 13 turnovers to 12. WVU made 32 of 75 shots, the Cougars 26 of 71.
Mickey Furfari
Butler scores 38 in WVU victory
- Mickey Furfari
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