WVU basketball secures dominant victory against Central Florida

This was the kind of game most fans expect from the WVU basketball team. On Friday, the Mountaineers dominated Central Florida.

The WVU basketball rallied early and were solid throughout the game. West Virginia pulled off an 83-45 victory against Central Florida in the semifinal of the Advocare Invitational at Disney World. Even though the game was played in the backyard of UCF, the crowd was overwhelmingly pro-WVU.

The Mountaineers fed off the energy of the crowd and did everything in their power to escape the poor play against Marist from the night before. It was basically night and day for the WVU basketball as it did not allow UCF to even compete in this one.

Defensively and offensively, the Mountaineers took the Knights out of the game. They capitalized on mistakes and took advantage of nearly every situation that presented itself on the court. West Virginia shot the ball extremely well and fought hard for second-chance opportunities.

For the WVU basketball team, James Bolden heated up from the outside, knocking down four 3-pointers and finished with a team-high 17 points. Jevon Carter added 16 points, while Daxter Miles and Sagaba Konate both had 14 points.

West Virginia shot 45 percent from the floor and limited the Knights to just a 24 percent shooting percentage. The Mountaineers forced 27 turnovers and were led by Carter’s five steals. Bolden and Miles both created four steals.

The offense for the WVU basketball team ran smoothly as Carter made five assists. The Mountaineers recorded 15 second-chance points and also had 15 fast break points. The depth of the Mountaineers paid off again as they scored 26 bench points. Head coach Bob Huggins has been giving many players a chance to play, which bodes well for future games as the bench becomes stronger and more confident.

The WVU basketball team, as a whole, seems to be playing confident now and probably can’t wait to get back on the floor. The Mountaineers have a day off on Saturday before facing Missouri in the championship game of the Advocare Invitational on Sunday.

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The blowout victory for the WVU basketball team may have helped some fans, and even the team, forget about the sour taste of the blowout defeat suffered against Texas A&M two weeks ago. West Virginia may just be a stronger team after being humbled like that.