West Virginia Handles North Carolina Central

The Mountaineers made 15 threes in the rout of the Eagles.

West Virginia University guard Joseph Yesufu / Christopher Hall - West Virginia on SI

Morgantown, WV – West Virginia captured its first winning streak of the season after dismantling the North Carolina Central Eagles (4-8) Tuesday night inside the WVU Coliseum 79-45.

West Virginia freshman Jonathan Powell led the Mountaineers (7-2) in scoring with 17 points and senior Joseph Yesufu put in 14 points as the pair of guards combined for eight three-pointers on the evening.

West Virginia sophomore forward Amani Hansberry buried a three from the right wing to begin the night. The Mountaineer offense was slowed with three early turnovers but held a 10-2 lead at the 14:15 mark of the first half.

Powell made just two three pointers (2-15) in his last four games but hit consecutive threes to give the Mountaineers a 10-point advantage near the midway point of the first half.

West Virginia was 8-13 from the field and held a 23-8 lead until North Carolina Central held the Mountaineers scoreless for five minutes and dwindled the lead to eight. Then, Yesufu buried three threes to propel a 13-3 WVU run for a 36-18 halftime lead.

West Virginia stretched its lead to 26 with an 11-3 run to open the second half with Powell hitting a three and freshman guard KJ Tenner was the fifth to make a three on the night for the 47-21 advantage with 16 minutes left in the game.

The Mountaineers maintained and steadily but off its 20-plus point advantage, building their largest lead of 36 in the final minutes of action. Senior guard Jake Auer buried three threes in the final two minutes of action as WVU took down the Eagles 79-45.