National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
West Virginia 92, Northern Kentucky 61
When: 4:00 PM ET, Friday, December 23, 2016
Where: WVU Coliseum, Morgantown, West Virginia
Officials: # Ray Natili, # Marques Pettigrew, # Andrew Walton
Attendance: 10197

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- No. 11 West Virginia did not have a dominant start, but the finish sure looked familiar.

Tarik Phillip scored 16 points and Teyvon Myers added 13 as the Mountaineers generated some second-half separation to swamp Northern Kentucky 92-61 on Friday.

West Virginia (11-1) and Northern Kentucky (9-4) were tied 24-all before the Mountaineers took control with a 17-2 run that included 10 unanswered points in the second half.

Myers, three days after playing a season-low seven minutes against Radford, joined Phillip in providing a bench boost that wore down the Norse.

"That's what the talk was at halftime, that we needed to attack them in the traps and take away vision," Myers said. "They were really poised, but we just had to be more aggressive. We don't care how poised you are."

Esa Ahmad produced 12 points for West Virginia, and guard Jevon Carter delivered another all-around performance with 11 points, seven rebounds, four assists and four steals as West Virginia ran its home record to 9-0, none of those closer than 27 points.

Carson Williams scored 12 points and Lavone Holland added 11 points for Northern Kentucky, which committed 25 turnovers and saw its six-game winning streak snapped.

West Virginia shot 52 percent overall and 62 percent in the second half, winning its seventh consecutive game and enjoying a 31-9 edge in points off turnovers.

After converting a closely guarded three-pointer that widened the gap to 63-43, Phillip enjoyed a brief exchange with a man in the front row.

"One of the fans said 'Oh yeah, that's a facial!' So I started laughing, shot him a look and said 'You know it,'" Phillip said

Northern Kentucky made its first five shots to lead 12-4, giving West Virginia its largest deficit since a Nov. 25 loss to Temple.

"I think they were a lot better than what our guys thought they were," said West Virginia coach Bob Huggins. "They're going to win games."

But the Norse cooled off dramatically. After sinking their first two three-pointers they missed their final 14.

Sophomore forward Drew McDonald, Northern Kentucky's top scorer at 17.3 points per game, was held scoreless for only the second time in 43 career games. He finished 0-of-4 shooting with seven turnovers.

NOTES: West Virginia coach Bob Huggins gave F Brandon Watkins his first start of the season on a day his grandfather was in attendance. ... Fellow F Elijah Macon had to be helped off with a knee injury in the second half but Huggins speculated that it didn't look serious. ... The announced crowd of 10,197 was the Mountaineers' second-largest in nine home games this season. ... West Virginia is off until Dec. 30 when it opens Big 12 play at Oklahoma State. The Mountaineers play their final nonconference game against Texas A&M on Jan. 28 in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge.
Top Game Performances
 
Northern Kentucky   West Virginia
Carson Williams 12 Scoring Tarik Phillip 16
Mason Faulkner 1 Assists Jevon Carter 4
Jordan Garnett 7 Rebounds Nathan Adrian 8
Mason Faulkner 5 Free Throws Made Teyvon Myers 5
LaVone Holland II 1 Steals Jevon Carter 4
Drew McDonald 1 Blocks Sagaba Konate 4
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Northern Kentucky 61 39.6 2-16 21-32 4 36 1 3 25
West Virginia 92 51.6 4-17 24-36 13 33 8 17 8