West Virginia dominating in NIT opener
MORGANTOWN, W. Va. – If West Virginia was effected by the disappointment of not being selected for the NCAA tournament, it didn’t show on Tuesday night. The Mountaineers completely overwhelmed Delaware State in rolling to a 74-50 victory in the first round of the NIT in front of 6,458 fans at the WVU Coliseum, giving coach John Beilein his 100th victory at West Virginia against the same school he got No. 1 against.
“It’s certainly a nice round number for five years, but I’d like to get to 101 or more,” Beilein said of his milestone win, which also was his 546th overall in his 29-year career, spanning six teams.
Frank Young scored 17 points and Alex Ruoff had 14 points, nine assists and six rebounds as West Virginia looked like it quickly put the snub by the NCAA selection committee behind it.
“Even though we didn’t make the NCAA, we’re not quitting on this season,” said West Virginia center Jamie Smalligan, who scored 13 points off the bench. “We’ve kind of got a chip on our shoulder.”
“I wasn’t worried about any kind of hangover from not making the NCAA,” Beilein said. “I knew we were sitting there on the bubble. I tried to prepare them ahead of time, to tell them how prestigious this tournament can be. If you look at it, it’s the most competitive NIT field I’ve seen.”
It may be a competitive field, but Delaware State offered little resistance in the first round.
West Virginia is the No. 1 seed in the East region of the tournament, and quickly put away the No. 8 Hornets, closing the first half with a 16-point run to give the Mountaineers a commanding 26-point lead at intermission.
“They caught us on a hot night,” Beilein said.
It didn’t matter what night the Hornets played the Mountaineers, though, according to Delaware State coach Greg Jackson.
“We’re just not in the same league as this program at this time,” Jackson said. “If we played that team 10 times, they’d beat us 10 times. They’re just that good.
“If this team is not in the NCAA tournament, I don’t know why. They’re as good as any team we’ve played this year.”
The Mountaineers will host either Massachusetts or Alabama, who played later on Tuesday night, in the second round of the 32-team tournament at 9 p.m. on Thursday.
West Virginia (23-9) got out of the gates quickly thanks to its defense.
“They’re 1-31 zone definitely hurt us,” said Delaware State’s Jahsha Bluntt, who scored a game-high 19 points.
The Hornets’ first two possessions told the story.
After controlling the opening tip, Delaware State (21-13) used up almost the entire shot clock in trying to find an open shot before Troy Roundtree forced up a missed 3-pointer. Rob Summers tipped in Ruoff’s missed 3-pointer at the other end put the Mountaineers up 2-0.
Bluntt was harassed into a turnover on the Hornets’ second trip down the floor, giving West Virginia a fastbreak that resulted in a pair of free throws by Young to make it 4-0.
The Mountaineers never looked back, and gradually built their lead the rest of the half thanks in good part to their trademark 3-point shooting.
Da’Sean Butler pushed the margin into double digits, 17-7, with a jumper from the wing, and a 3-pointer by Smalligan put West Virginia up 23-11.
“Eighty percent of them pose a 3-point threat,” Bluntt said of the Mountaineers. “Everybody can knock down open shots.”
Aaron Fleetwood hit a jumper to pull Delaware State within 10 one last time, but the Mountaineers then let loose with their 16-point onslaught, leaving the Hornets reeling.
Darris Nichols and Ruoff began the burst with consecutive 3-pointers, Smalligan put in a nice reverse lay-up, Young hit a trey, Summers made one of two free throws, Joe Alexander came up with a steal and lay-up, and Young dropped in a fast-break lay-up.
When the smoke had cleared – literally after the Mountaineer mascot let loose with his traditional musket blast right after the halftime buzzer – the scoreboard showed West Virginia 39, Delaware State 13, and the game was all but over.
The Mountaineers shot 62.5 percent in the first half (15 of 24) while holding the Hornets to only 24 percent (6 of 25), and sank half of their 10 3-point attempts, while Delaware State made only one of 14 from long range.
“They do so much offensively,” Jackson said. “They spread you out. They can hurt you in so many areas.”
West Virginia gave its fans a thrill with some short-range shots in cruising through the second half.
Smalligan threw down a dunk to make it 60-34, and Alexander rammed in a fast-break slam to put WVU up 66-38.
Butler’s double-pump, reverse lay-up gave West Virginia a 70-43 lead, and Smalligan’s authoritative two-handed dunk in the final minute accounted for WVU’s final points.