Honor Huff scored a game-high 23 points to lead West Virginia to a hard-fought 73-65 win over Campbell on Thursday in Morgantown, W. Va.
Treysen Eaglestaff and Harlan Obioha each tallied 12 points, Brenen Lorient added 12 points and nine rebounds, and DJ Thomas added 10 points off the bench for the Mountaineers (2-0).
Dovydas Butka scored 14 points and Jeremiah Williamson-Johnson added 13 points as he converted 9 of 10 free-throw attempts. DJ Smith added 11 points and eight rebounds and Chris Fields Jr. had a double-double with 10 points and 15 rebounds for the Fighting Camels (0-2)
The Mountaineers ground out a tightly contested game as Huff’s 3-pointer with 2:17 to play extended the WVU lead to 64-56.
The Fighting Camels took advantage of 11 WVU turnovers, staying in the game with a 12-6 edge in points off turnovers.
The Mountaineers came out firing as they took an early 8-0 lead on an Eaglestaff layup that forced Campbell to call an early timeout. Moments later, Butka got the Fighting Camels on the board with a drop step and lefty layup.
A Thomas corner three pushed the WVU lead to 11-4. With 12:30 left in the first half, Huff was fouled as he drained a three and converted the rare four-point play to put WVU up 15-6.
In transition, Fields pushed the pace and hit Cam Gregory for a corner three as Campbell hung tough, within 17-11 at the 10:23 mark of the first half. As the Mountaineers offense went four minutes without a bucket, a Butka layup pulled Campbell within 22-17.
WVU held a 33-25 halftime lead, but Campbell opened the second half on a 7-2 run.
Smith’s three from the top of the key cut the WVU lead to 35-32 with 17 minutes left in the game.
A spin move layup in the lane by Butka cut the WVU lead to 52-48 with just under six minutes to play. Muneer Newton’s dunk through traffic kept Campbell in the game as it trailed 59-54 with 3:18 left in the game. But the Mountaineers were able to hold on, thanks in large part to Huff’s nine points in the final three minutes.
