MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — Kedrian Johnson scored 18 points and West Virginia turned back persistent Stony Brook 75-64 on Thursday night.
The Mountaineers (10-2) only led 28-24 at the half and after building a 19-point lead in the second half the Seawolves (4-9) got within nine with more than 2 1/2 minutes to go.
Erik Stevenson added 16 points for West Virginia and Joe Toussaint had 12. Seth Wilson was 3-for-3 shooting from 3-point range in the second half, including a clutch basket to blunt the last Stony Brook rally.
West Virginia forward Emmitt Matthews, averaging 10.8 points per game, missed his second straight game with a left knee injury. He is listed as day to day.
Tyler Stephenson-Moore scored 16 points to pace the Seawolves. Kenan Sarvan added 13, Toby Onyekonwu had 11 and Tanahj Pettway 10. Frankie Policelli grabbed 14 rebounds.
West Virginia, which shot at least 50% in its last three games, was 3 of 12 behind the arc and shot 34.5% overall in the first half. Johnson was the only Mountaineer with much success, scoring 12 points.
Stony Brook got within 33-32 on a Policelli 3-pointer 2 1/2 minutes into the second half but Tre Mitchell and Stevenson had back-to-back 3’s to close an 8-0 run immediately after that. That’s when the Seawolves started cooling off and the Mountaineers heated up.
Toussaint had a 3-pointer and Wilson hit consecutive 3s in a 15-2 run that broke it open. Wilson’s second triple made it 60-41.
Stony Brook made a last push, scoring seven straight and then Keenan Fitzmorris hit a jumper to cut it to 66-57 with 2 1/2 minutes to go. Wilson hit another 3 and that restored the double-figure lead down the stretch.
West Virginia opens Big 12 play at Kansas State on New Year’s Eve.
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