Field Level Media
Jan 14, 2020
Derek Culver dominated the lane with 17 points and 11 rebounds to help No. 12 West Virginia power past visiting TCU 81-49 on Tuesday in Big 12 Conference play in Morgantown, W.V.
The Mountaineers constantly pushed the ball inside to Culver, who went 6-for-7 from the floor, and Oscar Tshiebwe (4 of 6 on field goals), and TCU had no answer. West Virginia outscored the Horned Frogs 36-10 in the paint, outrebounded TCU 38-24 and had 14 second-chance points to just three for the visitors.
TCU went nearly seven minutes without a field goal through the middle of the second half as the Mountaineers expanded their lead to as many as 31 points before moving into cruise control to the finish line.
It was Culver's fourth double-double of the season and 14th of his collegiate career.
Tshiebwe added 11 points for the Mountaineers (14-2, 3-1 Big 12), with Miles McBride and Jermaine Haley also scoring 11. West Virginia, the Big 12's deepest team, had 12 players log at least five minutes of court time and outshot the Horned Frogs 57.7 percent to 31.8 percent for the game.
RJ Nembhard led TCU with 14 points, with eight of those coming from the free-throw line.
Desmond Bane added 13 points for the Horned Frogs (12-4, 3-1), who came into play Tuesday with four straight wins and were off to their best start in conference play since going 14-0 when playing in the Western Athletic Conference during the 1997-98 season.
A 3-pointer by Sean McNeil with 11 seconds to play in the first half granted the Mountaineers a 37-23 advantage at halftime, their biggest lead of the first 20 minutes. West Virginia got 26 of its first-half points from its bench players, led by McNeil's eight points.
Bane paced TCU with seven points in the half.
West Virginia outshot the Horned Frogs 58.3 percent to 35 percent in the first half and outrebounded TCU 19-9.
The Horned Frogs have never won in Morgantown, losing all seven of their conference games at West Virginia since the two teams joined the league.
--Field Level Media