WVU Rolls Past Niagara 91-46 in Season Opener
After falling behind 16-6 early, West Virginia scored 21 straight points and held Niagara to 16 second-half points in a 91-46 season-opening win at Hope Coliseum, led by freshman Miles Sadler's 16 points and nine assists.
Well, that is one way to start a basketball season. After a shaky first few minutes, the West Virginia Mountaineers flipped a switch Monday night and ran Niagara right out of Hope Coliseum, 91-46, in the season opener.
It did not look like a blowout early. The Purple Eagles jumped out to a 16-6 lead, and for a moment the home crowd got awful quiet. Then the Mountaineers answered with 21 straight points, took a 43-30 lead into the half, and never looked back.
A second half to remember
If the first half was the wake-up call, the second half was the statement. West Virginia outscored Niagara 48-16 after intermission, holding the Purple Eagles to just 16 points in 20 minutes. The defense forced 24 turnovers, and the Mountaineers turned those into 24 points.
The numbers on the other end were just as eye-popping. Niagara did not make a single free throw, missing all four attempts, and did not grab one offensive rebound all night. WVU won the battle on the boards 36-24.
A freshman takes the wheel
Freshman point guard Miles Sadler made his Mountaineer debut one to remember, leading all scorers with 16 points and dishing out nine assists, just shy of a double-double.
He had plenty of help. Senior forward Brenen Lorient added 13 points, Martin Somerville scored 12, Finley Bizjack and Javan Buchanan chipped in 11 apiece, and Mouhamed Sylla was perfect from the floor, going 5-for-5 for 10 points while pulling down a team-high seven rebounds. Joson Sanon finished with nine. As a team, West Virginia shot 32-of-62 from the field, a little better than 52 percent, and knocked down 13 threes.
Every one of the 13 Mountaineers who dressed got into the game, and nine of them scored. Head coach Ross Hodge, now in his second season in Morgantown, said that depth could define this group.
"I think this is going to be a strength-in-numbers type of team," Hodge said after the game. "We have a lot of different guys who can help us in a lot of different ways."
What's next
An announced crowd of 9,024 was on hand to see it, and the Mountaineers will be back home soon. West Virginia (1-0) hosts Stetson at Hope Coliseum on Friday night, with tipoff set for 7 p.m.
One game down, a whole lot of season to go, but it sure felt good to see the Old Gold and Blue roll. Let's go, Mountaineers!
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