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No. 15 West Virginia Stomps Western Carolina 90-37

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - Esa Ahmad scored 14 points and No. 15 West Virginia stomped Western Carolina 90-37 on Wednesday night.

West Virginia (7-1) didn't slack off after a close road win at No. 14 Virginia on Saturday. The Mountaineers forced 34 turnovers against Western Carolina, a week after setting a school record by forcing 40 against Manhattan.

West Virginia scored the game's first seven points and used a 16-0 run to build a 25-point lead midway through the first half. Western Carolina went scoreless over the final 7:39 and trailed 46-12 at halftime.

By then, Western Carolina (3-6) had 19 turnovers to far surpass its season average. And West Virginia's pressure defense was just getting started. A 26-4 run by the Mountaineers followed early in the second half.

Jevon Carter added 13 points, Elijah Macon had 11 and Teyvon Myers scored 10 for the Mountaineers, who had 21 steals.

The Mountaineers lead the nation in scoring margin (30.3), forced turnovers (25), steals per game (13) and turnover margin (14.7).

Western Carolina's Haboubacar Mutombo was limited to six points, six under his team-leading average. The Catamounts didn't help their own cause, shooting 26 percent from the field.

BIG PICTURE

Western Carolina: The Catamounts simply couldn't match the onslaught of players off the bench for the Mountaineers. Western Carolina didn't help its own cause.

West Virginia: The game was an opportunity for coach Bob Huggins to get his younger players some valuable playing time and to see who's ready for the start of the Big 12 schedule in three weeks. West Virginia had 13 players score and 12 who had at least 10 minutes of playing time.

COACH HUGGS

Huggins earned his 798th career coaching win. His Western Carolina counterpart, Larry Hunter, has 683 career wins and was inducted earlier this year into the Ohio Basketball hall of Fame along with Huggins' father, Charlie, who won three high school state championships as a coach.

REBOUNDING HELP

Despite the loss of its top two rebounders from last season, West Virginia has increased its output slightly to 40 per game this season, although its rebounding margin is down to 4.9 compared with 8.6 last season. Western Carolina managed to match West Virginia with 36 rebounds apiece.

UP NEXT

Western Carolina plays at UNC Asheville on Dec. 17. It's the final game in a seven-game road swing for the Catamounts.

West Virginia plays VMI in Morgantown on Saturday. West Virginia forced 36 turnovers the last time these teams met in 2014.

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(Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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