National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
West Virginia 107, Mississippi Valley State 66
When: 7:00 PM ET, Monday, November 14, 2016
Where: WVU Coliseum, Morgantown, West Virginia
Officials: # Byron Jarrett, # Chance Moore, # Doug Sirmons
Attendance: 7807

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- Nathan Adrian's 15 points, 14 rebounds and six assists helped No. 20 West Virginia bury Mississippi Valley State 107-66 in a nonconference game Monday.

Lamont West and Teyvon Myers scored 12 each, and guard Jevon Carter balanced 10 points with eight assists and four steals for West Virginia (2-0), which led by 38 at the half before disappointing coach Bob Huggins the rest of the way.

"Did we lose focus? Absolutely we did," Huggins said. "We lost all of our energy. We can't do that.

"Everybody thinks I'm Scrooge because we won by 40 and I'm not very happy, but I know what's coming. It's getting ready to get real hard."

The Mountaineers don't figure to be tested until facing Illinois next week at the NIT Tip-Off in Brooklyn.

Marcus Romain scored 13 points and Jevon Smith added 12 to pace Mississippi Valley State (0-2), which finished with four fewer baskets (22) than turnovers (26).

West Virginia bolted out to a 64-28 lead, coming within five points of the highest-scoring first half in program history. By the break, 11 Mountaineers scored and featured 16 assists on 24 baskets.

The Delta Devils, reeling from a 94-63 loss at Northwestern, struggled to reach midcourt against "Press Virginia" with 18 turnovers in the opening 20 minutes.

But Mississippi Valley State essentially stalemated the favorites during the second half, beating the pressure downcourt for 12 layups.

"We're not playing against top talent but we still want to play good and execute," said West Virginia forward Esa Ahmad, who finished with 10 points and five rebounds. "That was complacency. We let off the gas pedal."

After missing its first shot of the night, West Virginia sank eight straight from the floor -- six on layups or dunks. MVSU led briefly at 5-4 before West Virginia reeled off 17 straight points.

Adrian threatened a double-double with more than five minutes left in the half, checking out with 12 points and eight rebounds.

"He just can't get hurt, because I don't know what we'd do without him," Huggins said. "We run everything through him."

NOTES: Mountaineers junior G Daxter Miles (9.4 points, 2.1 rebounds last season) missed his second game as he recovers from an illness. ... Mississippi Valley State plays its first 14 games on the road, including visits to Michigan State, Gonzaga and Iowa State. ... West Virginia's opening-half scoring mark is 69 points against Alaska-Fairbanks in 1994. ... The Mountaineers shot 49 percent overall and 9-of-25 from 3-point range. One of those was the first career basket for freshman Maciej Bender, who finished with nine points in 13 minutes.
Top Game Performances
 
Mississippi Valley State   West Virginia
Marcus Romain 13 Scoring Nathan Adrian 15
Rashaan Surles 4 Assists Jevon Carter 8
Michael Matlock 8 Rebounds Nathan Adrian 14
Darrell Riley 5 Free Throws Made Lamont West 4
Michael Matlock 3 Steals Jevon Carter 4
Marcus Romain 2 Blocks Sagaba Konate 3
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Mississippi Valley State 66 40.7 5-13 17-27 13 33 4 5 26
West Virginia 107 49.4 9-25 16-22 29 47 6 16 10