Mountaineers Maul Buckeyes

You knew the winning streak had to end… but like this…and to West Virginia? Disgusting!

Alex Ruoff had 17 points as the West Virginia Mountaineers dominated the 15th-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes, 76-48, at Value City Arena. Da'Sean Butler had 16 points and six rebounds while Darryl Bryant added 11 points for the Mountaineers (10-2), who have won four straight.

"It's nice to play well here," said West Virginia coach Bob Huggins. "I have tons of friends and family who were at this game and have spent the majority of my life here. We needed to play hard against a very good basketball team today. I have wonderful kids that play hard and these kids do what they need to do to win games."

William Buford and Jeremie Simmons each had 11 points for the Buckeyes (9-1), who lost their first game of the season and had a 12- game unbeaten streak at home stopped. "We weren't very good, it's just that simple," said Ohio State coach Thad Matta. "West Virginia had a lot to do with it. We couldn't capitalize on the momentum and really let our guard down on defense. After we went up early in the first, they got their big run and that was it for us."

Trailing early in the first half, the Mountaineers scored 11 unanswered points and held a 14-8 lead on Wellington Smith's jumper a bit over six minutes in. The game remained tight over the next several minutes, but West Virginia was able to slowly build on its lead and Butler nailed a jumper right before the buzzer to give West Virginia a 35-28 lead after 20 minutes.

The Buckeyes kept the score tied in the first several minutes of the second half and trailed by only seven points, 45-38, after Simmons put in a layup. However, the Mountaineers took control of the game as Devin Ebanks countered with a jumper to spark a 13-2 run and the team held a 58-40 lead on Bryant's jumper with a bit over 10 minutes to play. After Buford the bleeding with a pair of free throws, but West Virginia scored the next eight points and held a 66-42 advantage after Kevin Jones put in a jumper with under seven minutes to play.