MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Tucker DeVries led four double-figure scorers with 18 points in West Virginia’s 94-61 exhibition victory over Division II Charleston before an announced crowd of 9,636 on Friday night at the WVU Coliseum.
Javon Small, Amani Hansberry and freshman Jonathan Powell chipped in with 11 points each for coach Darian DeVries‘ new-look Mountaineers, playing publicly for the first time this year.
All 15 players dressed got into the game and 13 got into the scoring column tonight.
“We were excited to get out here and play against another uniform and get out in front of our fans,” DeVries said. “I was excited for the opportunity to do that and see some of the things we’ve been working on and to get some stuff on tape and come back on Monday and take that next step again.
“These two practice games are so valuable for us before they start to go on the win and loss column,” DeVries added. “Overall, I was very pleased with the guys. They did a great job and had great enthusiasm.”
West Virginia shot 52.9% in the first half in building a 50-29 halftime lead.
WVU’s largest lead was 35 points, 94-59, with 51 seconds remaining.
The Mountaineers began the game with a starting lineup consisting of Small, DeVries and Sencire Harris in the backcourt with Hansberry and Toby Okani at the two forward positions. Four of the five made at least one 3, 11 different players got on the floor and fans saw some good ball movement, shooting and excellent on-ball pressure defense in the first half.
In the second half, West Virginia’s 3-point shooting went cold for a long spell before freshman Jonathan Powell ended the drought with a straight-away 3 with 7:55 remaining. The Mountaineers missed nine in a row prior to that.
“I thought JP came in as a freshman and was really poised and did some good things, and I thought Sencire Harris was really disruptive defensively in the first half,” DeVries noted.
Small left the game with cramping early in the second half and did not return.
Overall, the Mountaineers shot 47.2% from the floor and 33.3% from 3, making 11 of 33. Eight different players converted triples, including Powell’s team-best three.
Charleston turned the ball over 22 times leading to 36 West Virginia points but held its own on the glass pulling down just four rebounds fewer than WVU’s 38. CJ Meredith led the Golden Eagles, coached by former Mountaineer player James Long, with 13 points.
“I thought our ball toughness was really good, especially in the first half,” DeVries said. “It slipped a little bit there in the second half, but the first-half intensity we were disruptive, had a lot of hand activity and I thought our communication was at a high level. We were executing switches at the right times, and we were able to get it and go.
“The biggest thing we talked about was the rebounding piece – we’ve got to be better there. We are undersized, we understand that, but as this season goes, we can still be a great rebounding team, we’ve got to execute the box outs a little bit better and be more physical with them.”
Afterward, the players returned to the floor to meet Mountaineer fans and sign autographs.
West Virginia will have a closed scrimmage next week against an undisclosed opponent in an undisclosed location before opening the regular season on Monday, Nov. 4, at the Coliseum against Robert Morris, now playing in the Horizon League.
The Colonials were 10-22 last year under veteran coach Andrew Toole, beginning his 16th season at the Moon Township, Pennsylvania, school.
Tickets for the 2024-25 season remain on sale through the Mountaineer Ticket Office and can be purchased by logging on to WVUGAME.com.
