Kedrian Johnson tied a career high with 18 points and Erik Stevenson added 16 to lift host West Virginia to a 75-64 victory over Stony Brook on Thursday in Morgantown, W.Va.
Johnson made all eight of his free-throw attempts to help him match his previous career-high point total, set during the Mountaineers’ 77-68 loss at Arkansas on Jan. 29.
Joe Toussaint scored 12 points as West Virginia (10-2) overcame shooting just 41.8 percent from the floor (23 of 55) to extend its winning streak to four games, tying a season high. The Mountaineers also won four in a row to start the season.
Seth Wilson drained all three of his 3-point attempts to finish with nine points for West Virginia, which played without starting forward Emmitt Matthews Jr. (knee) for the second straight game.
Tyler Stephenson-Moore scored 16 points and Kenan Sarvan added 13 for the Seawolves (4-9), who were undone by their 14 turnovers.
Frankie Policelli had 14 rebounds but was limited to just three points, four days after he matched a career high with 22 points in Stony Brook’s 66-59 victory over Army.
Policelli converted from beyond the arc for his first points of the game to trim West Virginia’s lead to 33-32 with 17:24 remaining in the second half.
The Mountaineers answered with a flourish, with Tre Mitchell and Stevenson each sinking a 3-pointer during their 8-0 run.
West Virginia appeared to receive its wake-up call at that point. Toussaint made a 3-pointer and Wilson converted from beyond the arc on consecutive possessions to extend the Mountaineers’ lead to 60-41 with 7:11 remaining in the second half.
Stony Brook whittled the deficit to nine points with 2:29 to play before Wilson drained his third 3-pointer of the contest. Johnson converted at the free-throw line to seal the win.
Stony Book erased an early nine-point deficit to forge a tie at 17-17 before Johnson ended his team’s scoring drought. Johnson made a jumper, a 3-pointer and two free throws and West Virginia went on to build a 28-24 lead at halftime.
–Field Level Media