Treysen Eaglestaff scored a game-high 22 points to lead West Virginia to a 72-61 win over Colorado in a Big 12 Conference matchup on Saturday in Morgantown, W. Va.
Honor Huff added 14 points, and Brenen Lorient racked up 12 points and pulled down nine rebounds. Harlan Obioha chipped in 10 points and grabbed nine rebounds for West Virginia (12-6, 3-2 Big 12), which ran its home record to 12-0.
Barrington Hargress led Colorado (12-6, 2-3) with 15 points, Bangot Dak tallied 11 points and Sebastian Rancik contributed 10.
The Mountaineers used a 13-3 run in the second half to pull away from the Buffaloes. Colorado had had just taken its first lead of the game at 43-42 on a Felix Kossaras layup that capped a 12-2 run with 13:37 remaining.
The Mountaineers responded with their run, which featured Eaglestaff’s banked-in, turnaround jumper to retake the lead at 55-46 with 9:10 to play. Eaglestaff scored eight points in the run.
A deep, fadeaway 3-pointer by Huff stretched the Mountaineers’ lead to 65-56 with 4:26 to play.
While the Buffaloes held a 14-9 advantage for the game in points off turnovers, the Mountaineers controlled the boards with a 38-22 edge. West Virginia held a 17-8 advantage in second-chance points.
The Mountaineers jumped out to a 6-0 lead as Eaglestaff had two buckets in the early going. Elijah Malone’s up-and-under layup got the Buffaloes on the board and, moments later, Dak flushed home Hargress’ alley-oop pass.
With the shot clock about to expire, Eaglestaff’s jumper gave the Mountaineers a 15-8 advantage at the 12:49 mark. Huff canned a 3-pointer and West Virginia held a 20-10 lead.
However, a 7-0 Colorado run highlighted by a Rancik three cut the Buffaloes’ deficit to 23-20. Eaglestaff drained a try to end the rally on the next Mountaineers’ possession.
Isaiah Johnson’s spinning layup ended a 6-0 West Virginia run and cut the Mountaineers’ lead to 36-29 at halftime.
–Field Level Media
