No. 11 West Virginia rallies, escapes North Texas 62-50

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — Sean McNeil scored 15 points and No. 11 West Virginia rallied in the second half for a 62-50 win over North Texas on Friday.

Taz Sherman added 13 points and Derek Culver had 10 points — all in the second half — and 10 rebounds for the Mountaineers (5-1), who trailed by eight points at halftime but scored the first 18 points of the second half to take control.

Culver scored seven points during the decisive run.

Javion Hamlet scored 15 points and Thomas Bell had 12 for North Texas (1-3).

West Virginia shot an abysmal 9 of 35, including 1 of 8 from 3-point range, in the first half and trailed 29-21 at the break.

But in the second half it was the Mean Green who couldn’t buy a basket, shooting 6 of 33, including 2 of 15 on 3-point attempts.

West Virginia outscored the Mean Green 16-6 in the paint in second half after being outperformed 20-10 in the paint in the first 20 minutes.

BIG PICTURE

North Texas: The Mean Green weren’t even supposed to be here. They agreed to play the game after West Virginia had its original home opener against Robert Morris canceled due to COVID-19 concerns.

West Virginia: The Mountaineers will need to perform much better over 40 minutes when they take on No. 19 Richmond on Sunday.

UP NEXT

North Texas hosts Arkansas Pine Bluff on Tuesday.

West Virginia hosts No. 19 Richmond on Sunday.

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