National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
West Virginia 74, Missouri 51
When: 12:00 PM ET, Saturday, January 25, 2020
Where: WVU Coliseum, Morgantown, West Virginia
Officials: # Paul Janssen, # Kipp Kissinger, # Gary Maxwell
Attendance: 14031
By Field Level Media

No. 14 West Virginia rattled off 21 straight points early in the second half to break open a tight game and coast to a 74-51 win Saturday over Missouri in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge in Morgantown, W.Va.

Bob Huggins' 876th career win lifted the Mountaineers coach into a tie for seventh place on the NCAA list with Kentucky icon Adolph Rupp.

Miles McBride came off the bench to score 15 points for the Mountaineers (16-3), while Jermaine Haley added 15 points and nine rebounds. Oscar Tshiebwe added 14 points and eight rebounds as West Virginia dominated the glass 50-30, getting 12 boards from reserve forward Gabe Osabuohien.

Torrence Watson scored a game-high 19 points off the bench to pace the Tigers, who dropped to 9-10 after converting only 28.3 percent of their shot attempts from the field, including 7 of 26 from the 3-point line. Missouri missed four free throws (14 of 18) after going 56 of 57 in its previous two games.

Ahead 26-25 after Missouri's Mitchell Smith sank a transition layup 75 seconds into the second half, the Mountaineers exploded to make the game a blowout. Osabuohien started the run with two free throws at the 18:18 mark and McBride ended it nearly six minutes later with a 3-pointer for a 47-25 cushion.

The first half was contested in two segments: the first 12 minutes, dominated by West Virginia, and the final eight minutes, which Missouri controlled to make it a close game at the half.

In a continuation of their 97-59 destruction of Texas on Monday night, the Mountaineers stifled the Tigers offensively through 12 minutes. Missouri made just two of its first 20 shots, and West Virginia led 20-6 after McBride converted a turnover into a transition layup.

The game changed right after that. The Tigers found footing offensively and the Mountaineers got sloppy. Two free throws by Missouri's Kobe Brown at the 7:55 mark were the start of a 17-4 run to end the half. Xavier Pinson finished it off with a fast-break layup with 27 seconds left, sending the Tigers into the locker room down just 24-23.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Missouri   West Virginia
Torrence Watson 19 Scoring Jermaine Haley 15
Xavier Pinson 2 Assists Jordan McCabe 3
Kobe Brown 5 Rebounds Gabe Osabuohien 12
Kobe Brown 3 Free Throws Made Jermaine Haley 6
Kobe Brown 2 Steals Jermaine Haley 3
Dru Smith 2 Blocks Derek Culver 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Missouri 51 28.3 7-26 14-18 8 30 3 5 16
West Virginia 74 41.5 4-15 16-28 13 50 4 10 11