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National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
West Virginia 90, Western Carolina 37
When: 7:00 PM ET, Wednesday, December 7, 2016
Where: Charleston Civic Center, Charleston, West Virginia
Officials: # Jeb Hartness, # Thomas O'Neill, # Antinio Petty
Attendance: 8384

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Reserve guard Teyvon Myers challenged teammates with a seemingly impossible goal before No. 15 West Virginia's game against outmanned Western Carolina on Wednesday.

"On group chat at 8:30 a.m. this morning I said, 'Fellas, let's get 50 turnovers. Who's with me?' And everybody responded back, 'yeah, yeah, yeah,' " Myers said.

The Mountaineers didn't hit that mark but still forced 34 turnovers and held the Catamounts to 26-percent shooting during a 90-37 blowout.

Esa Ahmad finished with 14 points and eight rebounds and Jevon Carter added 13 points and six steals for the Mountaineers (7-1), who entered as 34-point favorites and led by precisely that margin at halftime.

Elijah Macon added 11 points and Myers scored 10 for West Virginia, which piled up a 37-0 edge in points off turnovers.

Given the huge talent discrepancy, coach Bob Huggins didn't view the lopsided score as proof his players were focused.

"They watched the tape. They knew we were going to win," he said. "I actually thought we came out sluggish."

West Carolina shot just 13-of-50 from the floor overall and went scoreless for a stretch of 10:43 spanning both halves.

It was the latest walloping for the Catamounts (3-6), who lost at Miami, Ohio State and Marquette by an average of 41 points.

"They could be the best one we've played yet because of that pressure," said Western Carolina guard Elijah Pughsley, who was scoreless with five turnovers and 0-for-5 shooting.

"They're long and athletic. We didn't give them our best punch today, but give power to them, respect to them. They're a good team. Hopefully they go get the Big 12 championship and keep it going."

Haboubacar Mutombo, Onno Steger and Adam Sleed paced the Catamounts with six points each.

After forcing a school-record 40 turnovers against Manhattan earlier this season, "Press Virginia" is greedy for more. But 50 turnovers in a 40-minute game, is that possible?

"Yes," said Macon. "With these guys, with this group? Yes."

Said Myers: "We didn't get it today, but look out for it -- soon."

Daxter Miles hit a fall-away 3 at the halftime buzzer that stretched the lead to 46-12. That made West Virginia 7-of-14 from 3-point range at the break while Western Carolina was shooting 5-of-25 overall.

The Mountaineers made only 1-of-12 from 3 in the second half, though it hardly mattered with the game so out-of-hand. Starting the game with seven straight points, West Virginia tacked on a 16-0 run and led 30-5 on Carter's free throws after he was undercut by on a fast-break layup by Deriece Parks.

NOTES: West Virginia's leading scorer and rebounder, Nathan Adrian, finished with a season-low two points on only three shot attempts and one board. Yet the bench compensated as 13 players scored for WVU. ... Mountaineers G Tarik Phillip finished with eight points, five assists and five steals. ... Western Carolina fell to 1-11 against current Big 12 teams, with the lone victory 66-64 over Kansas State during the 2001-02 season.
Top Game Performances
 
Western Carolina   West Virginia
Haboubacar Mutombo 6 Scoring Esa Ahmad 14
Jesse Deloach 2 Assists Tarik Phillip 5
Marc Gosselin 10 Rebounds Esa Ahmad 8
Devonte Fuller 2 Free Throws Made Esa Ahmad 6
Haboubacar Mutombo 2 Steals Jevon Carter 6
Charlendez Brooks 1 Blocks Sagaba Konate 4
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Western Carolina 37 26.0 4-18 7-10 10 30 2 5 34
West Virginia 90 49.2 8-26 22-31 24 33 8 21 13