West Virginia’s men’s basketball team took the road show to Glenville on Friday night and made the first trip to Glenville State look routine, cruising to a 103-66 exhibition win in front of about 3,000 fans at the Waco Center.
The game carried a little extra weight before the opening tip. Both schools recognized the late Ike Morris, a supporter of each university, and WVU coach Ross Hodge presented Morris’ family with a framed Mountaineer jersey.
Once the ball was in play, the Mountaineers wasted no time separating themselves. West Virginia ripped off a 21-0 run and surged to a 29-6 advantage before Glenville State could settle in. The Pioneers trimmed the margin to 13 at one point, but WVU controlled the rest of the half and went into the break up 48-26.
The second half followed the same script. Coming off a rough exhibition showing against Maryland, West Virginia looked sharper, and the players said the difference started with the energy. Freshman guard Miles Sadler pointed to the team’s aggression.
“I think our group showed better aggression,” Sadler said. “Last game, a couple points in the game, we weren’t as aggressive as we needed to be, and I think we did a good job showing that today.”
Brenen Lorient said the Mountaineers were better in two areas that matter every night: rebounding and ball security.
“Personally, I definitely think we rebounded the ball better as a team,” Lorient said. “Today we took care of the ball better too as guards, like, that’s what we take pride in.”
The numbers backed that up. WVU owned the glass 43-21 and finished with just 10 turnovers.
Sadler led the way with 18 points, six rebounds and six assists in 22 minutes. Lorient added 14 points, Martin Somerville scored 11, and Mouhamed Sylla and Javan Buchanan each finished with 10.
West Virginia also spread the production around. The Mountaineers got 47 points from the bench, and 12 of the 13 players who saw the floor scored.
Hodge made clear that the distribution of minutes was only part of the bigger picture.
“We have different roles, like all of us have different roles, but everyone has equal value,” Hodge said.
He singled out Max Olejasz, MJ Feenane and Jelani McKoy for the work they’ve put in behind the scenes.
“It’s nice to see them get their opportunity and take advantage of the opportunity,” Hodge said.
For WVU, the result was more than just a lopsided exhibition win. The Mountaineers got a chance to sharpen a few things after the Maryland loss, and they did it in front of a packed crowd far from Morgantown.
Next up, West Virginia returns to Hope Coliseum to play Wheeling University on October 28 before opening the regular season against Niagara on November 2.
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