In one of the more impressive halves they have played this season, the West Virginia Mountaineers raced out to a 43-20 halftime lead over the Akron Zips on Monday night. The Mountaineers were led by Jabarie Hinds, who went off for an unlikely 15 points in the first half. Hinds was on fire in the first half, hitting 6 of 7 shots from the floor to help WVU get a double digit margin after the under four timeout. He singlehandedly led the run, scoring 12 of his 15 points in the final four minutes to help extend the Mountaineers' lead from 6 to 23 points. He hit from downtown, in the lane, and at the free throw line.
Led by Keith Dambrot, the Zips are a game mid-major opponent, so Coach Huggins has to pleased with a 23 point lead after twenty minutes. A big key for WVU was pressure on the Zips big men down low, as they forced 10 Akron turnovers in just the first half. Meanwhile, the Mountaineers limited their turnover total to just three, rounding out an impressive first half at WVU Coliseum.