The University of Akron Athletics
University of Akron
West Virginia
Men's Basketball Falls 77-56 at West Virginia
November 28 | Men's Basketball
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MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Akron dropped the first contest of a three-game road trip, falling 77-56 to West Virginia in a non-conference contest on Monday night.
Nick Harney led the way with 12 points while Zeke Marshall pitched in with 10 points. Nikola Cvetinovic led Akron with nine boards while Harney pitched in with eight rebounds.
Akron (3-3) closed the game shooting 35.7 percent from the floor (20-of-56) and 15.4 percent from 3-point range (2-of-13). West Virginia (4-1) shot 47.6 percent from the field (30-of-63) and 21.4 percent from long range (3-of-14).
The Mountaineers held a 41-39 rebounding advantage and forced 20 Akron turnovers.
WVU's Jabarie Hinds led all scorers with 19 points.
Neither team gained any ground over the first 10 minutes of the second half before the Zips began to chip away at the Mountaineer lead. A 3-pointer by Brett McClanahan and a layup by Marshall cut the WVU lead to 57-41 with 8:46 to go in the game. The Zips would not be able to close the gap from there.
Both teams exchanged buckets for most of the first 10 minutes before WVU was able to carve out an eight-point lead (20-12) with 9:40 to go in the half. Neither team shot the ball particularly well over the first 12:20, with the Zips shooting 33.3 percent (7-of-21) and the Mountaineers shooting 42.9 percent (9-of-21) from the floor.
The lead remained eight points until Harney connected on two free throws to cut the lead to 24-18 with 4:32 left in the half. Seconds later, Brian Walsh missed two free throws courtesy of a Bob Huggins technical foul with 4:32 left in the half.
The Mountaineers would use a 19-2 run to close out the half up 43-20. Marshall had six points and three boards to lead the way. Harney and Chauncey Gilliam had four points each.
For the half, the Zips shot 26.9 percent from the floor (7-of-26) and were held scoreless from 3-point range (0-of-6). The Mountaineers finished 16-of-36 from the field (44.4 percent) and 3-of-10 from distance (30.0 percent).
The Zips will have the week off from competition before returning to action on Sun., Dec. 4, when they travel to Murfreesboro, Tenn., to take on Middle Tennessee. Tip-off for that contest is set for 2 p.m. ET.
Zips Notebook: Tonight's contest was the first collegiate game for senior Brett McClanahan in his home state of West Virginia ... the series between Akron and West Virginia is now tied at 2-2.
