Nick Arthur, Morgantown -
Kevin Jones scored a
career-high 29 points and added 13 rebounds while leading West Virginia to a
97-62 victory over Alcorn State on Thursday night.
"When it's all said and
done, he's (Kevin Jones) had a hall of fame career," said West Virginia head
coach Bob Huggins. "He's worked so hard, and he's such a wonderful guy."
The senior forward Jones
shot 13-21 from the floor.
"My shots were falling for
me, I was feeling really good today," Jones said. "My teammates were finding me
in good spots, and I just had overall more confidence."
After three offensive
rebounds in the first four minutes of play, Kevin Jones became West Virginia's
all-time leader in offensive rebounds with 321.
"It means a lot, just the
work I've put into offensive rebounding. I couldn't have done it without my
teammates missing all of those shots," said Jones jokingly.
The Mountaineers forced 19
Braves' turnovers and shot 48.6 percent from to field to improve to 2-1 on the
season.
Senior guard Truck Bryant
added 18 points, with 16 of them coming in the second half.
West Virginia jumped out
to an early 24-12 lead midway through the first half, following a three from
freshman guard Paul Williamson.
Williamson provided a
first-half spark and finished with six points at halftime.
Williamson, a Hart, W.Va.
native, admits his first appearance was a dream come true.
"I've loved West Virginia
basketball since I was little, and there's no better place in the world for
me," he said.
Kevin Jones anchored an impressive first half by the
Mountaineers. Jones led all scorers with 20 points to go along with 10 rebounds
at halftime.
For the second-consecutive
game, senior guard Truck Bryant was hampered by early foul trouble. Bryant had
three fouls just over ten minutes into the game, and was forced to sit out most
of the first half.
West Virginia shot 42
percent from the field in the first half and outrebounded Alcorn State 29-15 in
the first 20 minutes of play.
A three-pointer by
freshman guard Jabarie Hinds at the first-half buzzer gave the Mountaineers a
44-28 halftime lead.
Balanced scoring from West
Virginia to begin the second half pushed the Mountaineer lead to 14, 56-32,
with 15:46 left to play.
Truck Bryant's ninth point
extended the West Virginia lead to 63-37 with just over 13 minutes remaining in
the game.
"It just felt good to win
a game by a lot," Bryant said. "It just feels like we're starting to get on the
right track. We needed this game for our confidence and for the freshman
confidence."
Kevin Jones hit a three
with nine minutes remaining and the Mountaineers had their largest lead of the
night at 31, 74-43.
Junior forward Deniz
Kilicli hit a free throw to give West Virginia an 87-56 advantage with 3:55
left to play.
Freshman guards Gary
Browne and Jabarie Hinds both had solid games. Browne had eight points and 12
rebounds off the bench, while Hinds added 10 points and six rebounds.
Browne credits effort to
his success on the glass.
"It just happened because
I played hard," Browne said. "For a point guard, I need to do everything."
Alcorn State struggled to
find any rhythm offensively on Thursday night. The Braves committed 19
turnovers and shot just 35.5 percent from the floor.
West Virginia redshirt
freshman forward Kevin Noreen had 12 points and seven rebounds.
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