Nov. 13, 2010

Box Score | Quotes | Notes | Photo Gallery

MORGANTOWN, W. Va. - Senior Keith Benson recorded a double-double with 22 points and 15 rebounds, senior Will Hudson had 16 points and nine rebounds and freshman Travis Bader had a strong debut with 15 points, but Oakland University could not overcome 67 percent (22-33) shooting by West Virginia in the first half as the Golden Grizzlies (0-1) fell to the Mountaineers, 95-71, in men's basketball action at the WVU Coliseum on Friday night.

"We wanted this game and we wanted it early," said OU coach Greg Kampe. "We wanted to play a team that pressures the ball because we lost a four-year starter at the point, so we knew we were going to struggle on offense. They shot the ball unbelievably (well) in the first half, and a lot of that was uncontested off our turnovers. I thought we did pretty good against their pressure in the second half."

The Mountaineers had six players in double figures, led by John Flowers' 16 points. Deniz Kilicli had a double-double for WVU with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Senior Larry Wright, junior Reggie Hamilton and sophomore Ledrick Eackles all fouled out for Oakland in the second half with a combined 15 points.

The Golden Grizzlies committed 12 turnovers in the first half that led to 21 WVU points and the Mountaineers buried 9-of-14 3-pointers to take a commanding 24-pont lead at halftime, 55-31.

Benson came alive in the second half, while Hamilton and Bader connected on back-to-back 3-pointers as Oakland cut the lead to 15 points, 63-48, with 13:59 remaining. That would be as close as the Grizzlies would get as they tired with a shortened bench.

Benson, a native of Farmington Hills, Mich., now has 30 career double-doubles. He had 16 points and 11 rebounds in the final 20 minutes. OU and WVU each scored 40 points in the second half.

West Virginia held a massive edge in bench scoring, 34-12, and scored 30 points off 18 Oakland turnovers. The Golden Grizzlies also shot just 39 percent (25-65) for the game, compared to WVU's 51 percent (32-63).

The Mountaineers have now won 31 straight games at home against non-conference opponents. The loss ends the Grizzlies' eight-game regular-season winning streak, dating back to last season.

Oakland will travel to Athens for a non-conference battle with defending Mid-American champion Ohio University on Monday, Nov. 15. Game time is set for 7 p.m. and can be followed via live stats at OUgrizzlies.com.

-OAKLAND-