Taz Sherman scored 27 points, his sixth 20-point game of the season and one point from his career high, and West Virginia held off Kent State 63-50 Sunday in Morgantown, W.Va.
Sherman scored 15 of his points in the second half, and the Mountaineers won their sixth straight game and improved to 9-1. Sean McNeil added 19 points.
Sincere Carry’s 18 points led Kent State (5-4).
The first half saw both teams struggle to make shots consistently. The Golden Flashes were just 9-for-25 (36 percent) and 1-for-7 from 3-point range. The Mountaineers were only slightly better, and took a 25-22 lead into halftime.
Kent State held the lead by two points four times in the first 20 minutes, but West Virginia ended the half on an 8-3 run.
Sherman scored 11 of his team’s first 17 points of the second half as West Virginia surged ahead by nine. The Golden Flashes cut it to three, 40-37, on a Malique Jacobs layup with 11:47 to play, but the Mountaineers again went on a run.
It was keyed by the transition game, with layups on the break from Dimon Carrigan and Malik Curry to put West Virginia ahead 48-37.
A non-call on some contact in the paint led to Kent State coach Rob Senderoff getting a double technical foul, and he was ejected. The West Virginia run reached 14-0 for a 54-37 lead with under six minutes to play, which decided the game.
The Mountaineers went 3 minutes, 40 seconds without a made basket after taking that lead, but it didn’t matter much. McNeil hit a 3 with 1:50 to go for a 61-45 lead.
The win came despite West Virginia continuing to struggle with turnovers and free throw shooting. They committed 16 turnovers and made just 13 of 24 free throws, but the Mountaineers defense held Kent State to 19-for-55 shooting (34.5 percent) for the game.
–Field Level Media