West Virginia looked like the bigger, badder team from the outset. Morehead State, from the Ohio Valley Conference, were completely outmatched on the boards and the Mountaineers reaped the benefits.
The Mountaineers flustered the Eagles with a full court press, going on a 17-0 run early in the first half to jump out to a dominant lead. WVU got first half points from eight different players, with Kevin Jones leading the way, as per usual. Jones finished the half with 12 points
The Mountaineers were by plagued by poor free throw shooting, as they have been for much of the season so far. WVU went 9 for 21 from the line, missing the front end of many one and ones. WVU seemed to get lulled into complacency after a hot start to open the game, and played the second part of the half in a lackidaisical fashion. Morehead was still over-matched, and never really threatened.
The stories of the first half for the Mountaineers were cold shooting from Truck Bryant, tenacious rebounding from Deniz Kilicli and a bucket of points courtesy of Kevin Jones. Also known in Morgantown as "the usual". The freshman seemed to be blossoming into their roles, but none has really shown much. Aaron Brown would be at the top of the heap with five points, taking full advantage of missed playing time in the last contest.
The Mountaineers lead at halftime 39-22.