Shanna Rose | WV Sports Chat
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Finley Bizjack scored 15 points and West Virginia defeated Mercer 75-61 on Thursday night at the Hope Coliseum.
Miles Sadler and Javan Buchanan both had 12 points for the Mountaineers (3-0). Mo Sylla and Brenen Lorient each tallied eight points while Seydou Traore had seven points and six rebounds.
Shane Cherry led the Bears (2-3) with 20 points and Karon Boyd added 10.
WVU had a sluggish first half but outscored Mercer 44-33 in the second half.
The Mountaineers jumped out to a 19-8 lead before the Bears came storming back. A jumper from Quinton Perkins tied the game at 26 with 3:27 left.
Bizjack drained a 3 just before the buzzer to give WVU a 31-28 lead at the break.
The Mountaineers opened the second half on a 12-3 run and had a double-digit lead for nearly the rest of the contest. WVU shot 50 percent from the floor in the second half.
“Our first-shot defense wasn’t bad, but obviously giving up (14) offensive rebounds was just not good enough,” Mountaineer head coach Ross Hodge said. “Physicality is two things. Some of it is a mindset and an attention to detail, and some of it is a want and willingness to. It’s not about size as much as it is playing the game low and who’s hitting first usually wins.”
WVU forced 14 turnovers and had eight steals. The Mountaineers outrebounded the Bears 41-34.
WVU travels to Las Vegas to face Auburn in the Players Era 8 Tournament next Tuesday night.
Photo Credit: WVU Athletics
