Mountaineers continue run against Keydets

Nov 26, 2014 - 4:44 PM Charleston, WV (SportsNetwork.com) - West Virginia snuck into the Top-25 this week thanks to its Puerto Rico Tip-Off title, and the 21st-ranked Mountaineers will look to avoid a letdown with a matchup against VMI at the Charleston Civic Center on Wednesday.

The Mountaineers ran their record to 5-0 on the young season by knocking off then-17th ranked Connecticut, 78-68, in the annual tournament's championship game on Sunday.

Leading scorer Juwan Staten totaled 23 points, while Jonathan Holton and Daxter Miles Jr. scored 10 apiece for WVU, which became the first team to take down the defending national champs and snapped the program's 16-game road losing streak against ranked opponents.

WVU never trailed in the convincing win and forced 16 turnovers -- a calling card for Bob Huggins' bunch five games in.

Opponents are averaging 21.6 turnovers against WVU's stingy defense, and by comparison, the Mountaineers are giving it away just 11.6 times per game.

Staten leads the team with 15.8 ppg and has 21 assists to just eight turnovers. Devin Williams checks in with 13.6 ppg and a team-high 9.2 rpg, while Holton rounds out the double-digit scorers with 11.2 ppg.

The Mountaineers are also holding opponents to 28.6 percent shooting from 3- point range, and that's something VMI has specialized in so far, as it leads the nation with an average of 13.5 makes from long range.

QJ Peterson has connected on 11-of-28 attempts from long distance and is putting up a whopping 22.5 ppg. The sophomore guard donated 27 points against UNC-Wilmington on Saturday, but the Keydets could not solve the Seahawks down low.

UNC-Wilmington outscored VMI in the paint by a nearly impossible 84-34 margin en route to a 110-93 victory.

Other than Peterson, there are four more double-digit scorers for VMI, which is getting 12.5 ppg from Craig Hinton and 11.5 ppg from Brian Brown. Jordan Weethee and Tim Marshall are checking in at just around 10 ppg.

These programs have met 48 times coming into Wednesday's matchup, but this will be just their third matchup since 1969.