Honor Huff scored a game-high 24 points on senior night to lead West Virginia to a 77-62 win over UCF as both teams wrapped up the Big 12 Conference regular season on Friday in Morgantown, W. Va.
Brenen Lorient racked up 14 points and Chance Moore added 13 points off the bench for West Virginia (18-13, 9-9 Big 12). Jasper Floyd chipped in 10 points for the Mountaineers, who have won two of their last three games since a three-game skid.
Riley Kugel and Themus Fulks led UCF (20-10, 9-9) with 16 points apiece. Jordan Burks pitched in 14 points and nine rebounds for UCF, which lost its third straight game.
West Virginia took control of the game as Lorient’s corner three capped a 15-4 surge for a 59-44 lead with 9:09 to play. Later, it was Lorient’s reverse layup that put West Virginia up 67-52 with 3:19 left.
A frantic pace highlighted the early going as both teams raced to get into transition. Treysen Eaglestaff’s three gave the Mountaineers a 10-6 lead at the first media timeout.
As Floyd shook a defender for a wide-open layup and Harlan Obioha muscled his way to a put back, the Mountaineers extended their lead to 22-10 as part of a 12-2 run. Meanwhile, the Knights went over five minutes without a basket.
Despite this scoring drought, UCF kept the game relatively close, ending the first half on a 6-2 run to trail 32-23 at halftime.
It was a trend that continued into the second half, with Fulks’ three-point play pulling UCF within 36-30 with 17:02 remaining. UCF closed even closer at 44-40 as Fulks heated up. He scored six straight points for the Knights in an 8-3 rally.
But Huff hit a quick-release trey with the shot clock dwindling which pushed the Mountaineers’ advantage to 50-41. Moore followed up with a driving layup through contact to begin a three-point play for a 53-41 lead.
The Mountaineers were outscored 40-28 in the paint and outrebounded 41-33 but trailed for only 26 seconds.
–Field Level Media
