Mountaineers Romp to First-round Win After a Slow Start

Written by The Associated Press | 19 March 2010

BUFFALO, N.Y. - West Virginia overcame a miserable shooting start to avoid another Big East flameout in the NCAA tournament.

Kevin Jones scored 13 of his 17 points in the first half to spark the second-seeded Mountaineers to a 77-50 win over No. 15 seed Morgan State in Friday's first round. Despite the margin of victory, it wasn't an easy start for the Big East champs after West Virginia missed its first 11 shots and trailed 10-0 before the game was 5 minutes old.

With leading scorer Da'Sean Butler handcuffed by a double-teaming Bears defense, Jones proved to be the difference. The sophomore forward went 4-for-4 for 9 points during a decisive 21-4 run over a 6-minute stretch in the first half. Devin Ebanks scored 16 and added 13 rebounds for the Mountaineers (28-6).

Reggie Holmes scored 12 points for Morgan State (27-10), the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference champ, which followed up its first tournament appearance last year with another bid this season. Kevin Thompson had eight rebounds and three blocks to go with nine points for the Bears.

The Mountaineers advanced to the second round of the East Regional on Sunday. They'll play the winner of the game between No. 7 seed Clemson and No. 10 Missouri, who meet later Friday.

Despite the early scare, it proved to be a far better start to the day for the Big East, after the conference's teams struggled Thursday. Georgetown, Marquette and Notre Dame were all upset, while No. 2 seed Villanova survived a major challenge, needing overtime to beat Robert Morris 73-70.

Morgan State appeared ready to follow the trend with its swarming defense aimed at shutting down Butler, who finished with nine points. The senior guard entered the tournament leading the Mountaineers in scoring (17.4 points), and his running jumper with 4 seconds left sealed a 60-58 win over Georgetown in the Big East title game Saturday.

With Butler missing his first four attempts, Morgan State got off to a 10-0 lead after Holmes hit Thompson for an open layup with 15:36 left.

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