JOHN RABY AP Sports Writer
Associated Press
February 28, 2010 — MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — No. 8 West Virginia imposed its rebounding will after halftime to offset another double-digit deficit at home.
Kevin Jones scored 10 of his 15 points in the second half and the Mountaineers used a big rebounding advantage to come from 13 points down and beat Cincinnati 74-68 on Saturday.
West Virginia (22-6, 11-5 Big East) can earn a bye in the first two rounds of the conference tournament with a win over No. 11 Georgetown on Monday night.
The Mountaineers outrebounded Cincinnati 41-30 after the teams were even at halftime. West Virginia entered the game as the Big East’s top rebounding team, while Cincinnati was first in rebounding margin.
During practices, West Virginia coach Bob Huggins has instilled a tactic in his players when it comes to corralling missed shots — he sends those who don’t hustle after them to a high-speed treadmill for punishment.
“We’ve got smart guys and they knew that we had to rebound the ball,” Huggins said. “It becomes a part of their DNA. If they don’t rebound in practice, they know that they’re on that treadmill.”
Ten of West Virginia’s 26 second-half rebounds came on the offense end.
“They got a lot of the long ones coming off on the offensive glass,” Cincinnati’s Yancy Gates said. “At times it seemed like the whole team was in there.”
Cincinnati is the Big East’s worst free throw shooting team but the Bearcats went 13 of 15 from the line, including 9 of 9 in the second half. That accuracy never transferred to the rest of Cincinnati’s game.
Cincinnati shot 29 percent (9 of 31) from the floor after halftime. The Bearcats led 46-36 after a pair of baskets by Gates two minutes into the second half. But the Bearcats went more than nine minutes without a field goal, allowing West Virginia to take over.
Darryl Bryant added 14 points, Devin Ebanks had 12 points and 10 rebounds and Wellington Smith had 10 points for West Virginia.
Deonta Vaughn scored 15 points, Lance Stephenson had 14 and Gates added 10 for Cincinnati (16-12, 7-9), which saw its NCAA tournament hopes take a hit.
The Bearcats have games remaining against No. 7 Villanova and at Georgetown to finish the regular season. The conference tournament follows where Cincinnati has never won a game.
