West Virginia Upends Men's Basketball, 69-44

Friday, November 22

Morgantown, WV

7 PM

Boston University

3-3

West Virginia

4-0

Boston U.

West Virginia

Photo by: Dan Friend

November 22, 2019 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score Coach Jones Postgame Comments

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Facing a member of the Big 12 conference for the first time in eight years, the Boston University men's basketball team fell to West Virginia, 69-44, on Friday night in front of 10,743 fans at the WVU Coliseum as part of the Cancun Challenge.

Finishing with a 25-4 advantage in points off turnovers, the Mountaineers improved to 4-0, while the Terriers dropped to 3-3. Oscar Tshiebwe led WVU with a game-high 21 points and 10 rebounds, while sophomore Walter Whyte tallied a team-high 13 points. Classmate Jonas Harper was the second in double figures at 10 points.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Using its length and size, WVU forced the Terriers into seven turnovers in the first 10 minutes and 11 in the half after BU committed just 11 total during Tuesday's 78-70 win at South Carolina.
WVU's Jermaine Haley opened the game with back-to-back buckets in the paint to spark an 11-0 run capped by Tshiebwe's layup and free throw at 16:06.
Derek Culver's free throw extended the lead to 23-5 at 9:09, but Whyte and Harper combined for the next three 3-pointers to cut the deficit to single digits (23-14) over the next four minutes.
WVU entered the locker room ahead, 36-23, and opened the second half on a 10-0 run to pull away for the victory.

GAME NOTES

Both sophomore Alex Vilarino and senior Max Mahoney posted a team-high seven rebounds apiece, while junior Javante McCoy earned a game-high four assists.
The Mountaineers improved to 3-0 all-time against the Terriers in the first meeting between the two programs sincfe 1974-75.
BU went 17-of-52 (.327) for the game and 6-of-20 (.300) in 3-point territory.
WVU was held to 2-of-18 (.111) from behind the arc but was able to score 48 points in the paint and 13 more from the charitry stripe.
BU was seeking its first-ever win against the Big 12 conference and also two wins over major conferences in the same season for the first time since 2009-10 (Indiana, Oregon State).

NEXT UP: NORTHERN COLORADO

The Terriers will fly south to Mexico for the remaining two games of the Cancun Challenge.
They will meet Northern Colorado of the Big Sky for the first time ever on Tuesday (Nov. 26) at 3 p.m. and then either Gardner-Webb or Tennessee-Martin on Wednesday (Nov. 27).