MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — Quinn Slazinski and Kobe Johnson scored 19 points apiece to lead West Virginia to a 70-57 victory over Jacksonville State on Tuesday night.
Slazinski sank 6 of 10 shots from the floor with three 3-pointers for the Mountaineers (2-1), adding seven rebounds and three assists. Johnson made 7 of 17 shots with a 3-pointer, adding six rebounds and five assists. Jesse Edwards totaled 14 points and six boards, while Josiah Harris scored 12.
Johnson had 11 points, Edwards scored 10 and West Virginia shot 53.8% from the floor in building a 40-27 lead at halftime. The Mountaineers were coming off a 73-65 home loss to Monmouth where they shot 31.2% overall and 21.9% from beyond the arc.
West Virginia scored the first five points of the second half before the Gamecocks (1-2) battled back to within 61-53 with 3:56 remaining after KyKy Tandy hit two 3-pointers and scored eight in a 10-0 run. Slazinski sank two free throws and picked up an assist on a 3-pointer by Harris and the Mountaineers’ led by 13 just 40 seconds later.
Tandy topped Jacksonville State with 18 points. He made 7 of 18 shots from the floor, including 4 of 11 from 3-point range. Quincy Clark scored 13 with four assists.
West Virginia shot 51% for the game (23 of 45) and made 8 of 19 from distance (42%). Jacksonville State shot 34.4% overall but made 10 of their 26 3-pointers (38.5%). The Mountaineers sank 16 of 25 free throws, while the Gamecocks made 5 of 10.
The two schools played once before with West Virginia winning 74-72 at home on Dec. 22, 2018.
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