 started out a little sluggish in the first half, unable to prevent Fordham runs over the first 7 minutes of the game. James Bolden and Sagaba Konate led a couple of WVU scoring runs before halftime to stretch the lead as high as 16 points with 4 minutes remaining before halftime. Rams guard Ivan Raut responded with four free throws and a 3-pointer to cut the West Virginia lead to five before Carter dunked as time expired to give the Mountaineers a 46-39 halftime lead. West Virginia opened the second half on a 12-5 run, stretching the lead to double digits and the Rams (5-7) couldn't quite recover. Daxter Miles Jr. led the Mountaineers with 21 points, Lamont West added 15 points and Konate finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds for his second double-double of the season. Will Tavares led Fordham with 18 points and seven rebounds, while Joseph Chartouny added 16 points. BIG PICTUREFordham picked up a moral victory in Morgantown, staying competitive with the nationally ranked Mountaineers for an entire 40 minutes, and will look to regroup by starting their Atlantic 10 schedule at VCU. West Virginia will ride their 11-game winning streak into Big 12 play with road games at Oklahoma State and Kansas State. UP NEXTFordham opens Atlantic 10 play at VCU on Dec. 30. West Virginia starts the Big 12 season at Oklahoma State on Friday.---More college basketball: http://collegebasketball.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/-Top25)
Time: 12:00 PM EST MORGANTOWN, W. Va. -- After 829 coaching wins, West Virginia's Bob Huggins finally earned a nomination for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame this week. With one more victory, against Fordham on Saturday, he'll match Jim Phelan for seventh on the Division I all-time list, and the No. 10 Mountaineers (10-1) will head into Big 12 action with a near-perfect nonconference slate." It's a great honor but it's not why I got in this business," Huggins said Friday regarding the Hall of Fame. "I love being around these guys and I love the game of basketball." I've been blessed with wonderful guys. The guys that I had that nobody else wanted to recruit who turned out to be the best of the best." His current squad features more players who were undervalued and overlooked coming out of high school, such as senior point guard Jevon Carter. The reigning national defensive player of the year leads the country in steals (3.7) and has matured into an all-around force who contributes 18.9 points, 5.8 assists and 5.5 rebounds per game. Carter said Huggins' success transpired because the coach demands the same from himself as he does his players." He's always working," Carter said. "He says nothing was ever given to him, and he feels like when he stops working that's when someone's going to pass him up." Carter's backcourt mate, senior Daxter Miles, is scoring a career-high 14.3 points despite slumping to a career-low 22.4 percent on 3-pointers so far. His defense, rebounding and familiarity with offensive sets are the keeping him on the floor for 27.8 minutes per game, second on the team to Carter." We've had numerous conversations about how much we depend on him, and Dax knows that he is a huge part of what we do," Huggins said. "His confidence doesn't revolve around a jump shot. He knows he's not getting yanked. He's missed more shots than anybody in program history probably, so he knows he's not coming out. It makes a huge difference." Sophomore forward Lamont West, who averages 11.9 points, missed Wednesday's 77-38 win over Coppin State with an ankle injury and remains questionable for Fordham (5-6), which was picked next-to-last in the Atlantic 10. The Rams are coached by former West Virginia assistant Jeff Nieubauer, whose top assistant, Rodney Crawford, played under Huggins at Cincinnati. Five years ago this week, Nieubauer coached Eastern Kentucky to an upset win in Morgantown. Another upset this weekend would be even more shocking, considering Fordham's KenPom offensive efficiency ranks 324th in nation. The five opponents beaten by the Rams this season own a combined 10-46 record. Then again, West Virginia saw the perils of taking a team lightly when No. 5 North Carolina lost at home to 25-point underdog Wofford. So, thoughts of Christmas break can wait until after the Mountaineers try to extend their 10-game winning streak." No distractions," Carter said. "We want to keep our win streak going. We want to win this game, we plan on winning this game, and we're going to prepare hard."
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