Kevin Jones and Casey Mitchell scored 15 points apiece and sparked a second-half run to help West Virginia knock Cleveland State from the ranks of the unbeaten, 74-63, Saturday at WVU Coliseum.

The Mountaineers (8-2) led by nine early in the second half before the Vikings rallied to tie the game at 55-55 with 8 ½ minutes left. Norris Cole scored nine points during the spurt. But West Virginia responded with 3-pointers by Mitchell and Jones and a three-point play by Jones to restore a nine-point bulge over the next three minutes and were never threatened thereafter.

Cole scored 19 points and Aaron Poque added 14 for Cleveland State (12-1), which was hoping to use this win to catapult themselves into the national rankings. They received four votes last week.

West Virginia held a 36-32 lead at the break in a first half where six points was the biggest lead by either team. The Mountaineers opened the second half with buckets from Jones and John Flowers, and a three-point play by Mitchell a few minutes provided West Virginia a 57-48 lead with 15:58 to play.