Navy trims 18-point deficit, still loses to West Virginia 85-64
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — Tre Mitchell scored 19 points to lead West Virginia to an 85-64 win over Navy on Wednesday night.
Erik Stevenson added 13 points, Joe Toussaint 12 and Kedrian Johnson 11 for the Mountaineers (7-2).
Freshman Austin Benigni scored 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting and Sean Yoder added 10 for Navy (5-4), which fell to 1-4 on the road. Leading scorer Tyler Nelson was held to six points, nine below his average.
Navy trimmed an 18-point deficit to 54-49 with 14:18 left in the game after Benigni scored seven unanswered points.
But West Virginia pushed the lead back to double digits to stay midway through the half after 3-pointers by Johnson, Toussaint and Mitchell in the span of just over a minute.
Josiah Harris made a 3-pointer and two free throws during a 8-0 run to give the Mountaineers their largest lead, 75-56, with 6:18 remaining.
The Mountaineers made their first three 3-point attempts, shot 59% from the floor in the first half and took a big lead. But Navy shot 55% and trimmed its deficit to 48-38 at halftime.
It was Navy's first visit to Morgantown since 1972. The game was held on the 81st anniversary of the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor.
BIG PICTURE
Navy was held to its lowest scoring output of the season.
West Virginia scored at ease against Navy's zone defense but was careless in spurts when it was defending the ball. The Mountaineers held a 38-23 rebounding advantage.
UP NEXT
Navy finishes a four-game road trip at Towson on Sunday.
West Virginia continues its four-game homestand Saturday against Buffalo.