West Virginia off the mark at Seton Hall

Seton Hall’s match-up zone was too much for the Mountaineers, who forced too many poor shots and couldn’t find the bottom of the basket against the Pirates. Leading essentially the entire game, Seton Hall put West Virginia for good late in the second half with a big run.

Seton Hall jumped out to an early lead on West Virginia just over four minutes in and kept the defensive pressure to a maximum in the first half. The Seton Hall defense recorded five blocks and five steals, forced seven turnovers and held the Mountaineers to 26 percent shooting in the opening period. Fuquan Edwin led the Pirates with 11 points in the first half, sinking both 3-pointers he attempted. A poor free-throw shooting team to start, West Virginia only shot just above 50 percet from the free-throw line in the first half.

Coming out into the second half leading by 16 points, Seton Hall’s defense didn’t let up. Keeping up the zone pressure was the key as the Pirates rolled on to victory. West Virginia closed the lead to six points late in the second half, but the Mountaineers were held without a basket in the last six minutes and 52 seconds of the game. In that time, Seton Hall went on a 13-0 run, handing West Virginia their first Big East loss of the season.

Despite a poor overall offensive showing by West Virginia, Kevin Jones locked in a double-double for the Mountaineers. He led the team in scoring with 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. The West Virginia offense committed 17 turnovers.

Seton Hall’s offense spread the ball around and received contribution from everyone. Edwin led the team with 19 points, grabbed five rebounds, notched four steals and dished out three assists. The Pirates shot 48 percdet from the field and grabbed 32 rebounds, six more than the Mountaineers.

West Virginia is back in action on Jan. 4 at Rutgers University. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.