Huskies fall to No. 9 WVU
Northeastern upset bid hurt by 19 turnovers
West Virginia’s inside game is its runaway strength entering the heart of the Big 12 schedule.
It’s the outside shooting that’s giving coach Bob Huggins headaches.
With Derek Culver and Oscar Tshiebwe pounding away in the paint, No. 9 West Virginia used its size advantage to beat Northeastern 7351 on Tuesday.
Culver scored 18 points, Tshiebwe had 12 points and 15 rebounds and fellow forward Emmitt Matthews added 13 points for the Mountaineers (8-2), who now turn their attention to league play over the next month.
“Having them two down there is always a plus,” Matthews said. “If one of them’s not playing good, the other one usually is. Today, obviously both played good.
“I hope that this happens every game from now on, because I personally feel like if they both play well and we make shots from the outside, I don’t think we’ll lose to anybody.”
Problem is, West Virginia’s 3-point shooting stinks.
The Mountaineers went 2 of 21 from beyond the arc Tuesday. Huggins has praised his team’s efforts in practice, but that hasn’t converted over to game days. The Mountaineers are shooting 30% for the season from 3-point range.
“We came into the year thinking that was the one area that we certainly had fixed,” Huggins said.
West Virginia added Tuesday’s game after Buffalo canceled for the same date due to COVID-19 concerns. It was the only game on West Virginia’s schedule over a 10-day period, and Huggins wanted to give some of his reserves valuable court time.
Northeastern made the Mountaineers earn it.
The Huskies scored the first two baskets of the second half to trim an eightpoint deficit to 34-31. But Northeastern got sloppy with the ball and its momentum quickly fell apart.
Culver, Tshiebwe and Matthews put on a display of inside strength with a variety of layups and putbacks to help the Mountaineers gain control. Culver’s steal and dunk gave West Virginia a 5939 lead with 8:40 remaining and Northeastern got no closer than 15 the rest of the game.
The trio combined to shoot 18 of 26 from the floor. The rest of the team went 13 of 46 (28%).
The Mountaineers held a 45-34 rebounding advantage.
“They presented a lot of problems for us,” Northeastern coach Bill Coen said. “As you can see, live and in person, they have a big front line. Those guys aren’t moving around either.”
Tyson Walker scored 10 points for Northeastern (1-5) but was held seven points below his team-leading average. The Huskies committed 19 turnovers.
No. 2 Baylor 93, Central Arkansas 56— MaCio Teague scored 20 points on 9-of-13 shooting, preseason AP All-America guard Jared Butler had 17 points and No. 2 Baylor remained undefeated with a rout of Central Arkansas.
Jonathan Tchamwa-Tchatchoua finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Matthew Mayer also scored 13 points, and Adam Flagler added 10 after missing the previous two games. Davion Mitchell had 12 assists and six rebounds.
Baylor (7-0) returned from its weeklong Christmas break with its sixth win by at least 30 points this season.
No. 13 Texas Tech 79, IncarnateWord 51— Kevin McCullar scored 11 points in his season debut coming off an ankle injury and Texas Tech cruised in a tune-up before Big 12 play resumes.
Marcus Santos-Silva also had 11 points for the Red Raiders (8-2).
No. 14 Rutgers 81, Purdue 76 — Montez Mathis had a career-high 25 points, including 16 in the second half, and Rutgers beat Purdue without leading scorer Ron Harper Jr.
Harper tweaked his ankle in practice and was scratched an hour before tipoff. His injury is the latest for Rutgers (7-1, 3-1 Big Ten).
All-Big Ten guard Geo Baker had 19 points, six rebounds and four assists, while Jacob Young had 13 points and four assists.
Purdue (7-4, 2-2 Big Ten) punished Rutgers in the paint, led by Trevion Williams’ 21 points and 12 rebounds. Isaiah Thompson added 17 points.
Clemson 77, No. 18 Florida St. 67 — Clyde Trapp scored 15 points and Nick Honor had all his 13 points in the second half, including the go-ahead 3-pointer, as Clemson rallied past Florida State.
The Tigers (7-1, 1-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) started their comeback early in the second half as Al-Amir Dawes hit a 3-pointer and Trapp scored three points, tightening the game.
Honor broke the tie and put Clemson ahead for good with a 3-pointer with 7:01 to play.
Scottie Barnes led Florida State (5-2, 1-1) with 14 points.
No. 24 Virginia Tech 80, Miami 78 — Keve Aluma scored a career-high 26 points and Virginia Tech made crucial free throws in the final minute on the way to a victory over Miami.
Aluma hit 9 of 16 shots from the floor and 7 of 10 from the free-throw line for the Hokies (8-1, 2-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), who won their fourth straight game and will enter 2021 at the top of the ACC standings.
Justyn Mutts added 15 points for Virginia Tech, which made three free throws in the final 37 seconds to hold off the ’ Canes (4-3, 0-2).
Isaiah Wong and Matt Cross paced Miami with 16 points apiece.