GAME NOTES

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Sixth-rated West Virginia returns to action Saturday night at the WVU Coliseum against Coppin State.

	Wellington Smith is coming off a season-high 11-point peformance against Duquesne on Wednesday night. All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks photo

The Eagles bring a 5-3 record with them to Morgantown. Most recently, Coppin State defeated Loyola, Md., 63-58 in overtime on Wednesday night.

Guard Lenny Young scored 21 points and 6-foot-10 center Sam Coleman came off the bench to score 16 points and grab 10 rebounds to lead the Eagles.

Young is one of three double-digit scorers for Coppin State, averaging a team-best 13 points per game. The sophomore is second on the team with 11 3-point field goals and is shooting 39.3 percent overall.

Junior guard Kareem Brown leads the team with 12 3s and is second on the team in scoring averaging 10.4 points per game. Vince Goldsberry, a 6-foot point guard, is averaging 10.1 points per game.

Coppin State’s three losses have come against Colorado, USC and Morgan State.

West Virginia boosted its record to 6-0 with a 68-39 victory over Duquesne Wednesday night at the Coliseum. Sophomore forward Kevin Jones scored 16 points and grabbed nine rebounds for the Mountaineers.

Seniors Wellington Smith and Da’Sean Butler added 11 and 10 points respectively.

Butler continues to lead the team in scoring with an average of 16.8 points per game. Butler is shooting 49.3 percent overall and 39.3 percent from 3-point range. With 15 points on Saturday, Butler can pass both Mark Workman (1,553) and Warren Baker (1,556) to move into 12th place in career scoring at WVU.

Butler needs 113 points to crack West Virginia’s top 10.

Jones is second on the team in scoring averaging 13.2 points per game. He is pulling down a team best 7.3 rebounds per game and is shooting 57.1 percent from the field including 36.8 percent from 3.

Devin Ebanks (10.7 ppg.) and Truck Bryant (10.3 ppg.) are also averaging double figures.

West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said Friday that Ebanks (hand) and guard Casey Mitchell (knee) have been slowed by nagging injuries and both players could use some rest before the Mountaineers’ tough stretch coming up when they play four games in a span of 10 days.

“Devin actually hit his hand early in practice and I don’t think it is going to get healed up as long as he keeps getting it banged,” Huggins said. “It’s not broken but he’s got a contusion. The more he gets it hit the longer it’s going to take to get healed up. And Casey’s knee is bothering him again.

“We would be better served to give them some time off and get them healed up so they don’t have to play with those nagging injuries the whole year.”

Fortunately for West Virginia, after Saturday’s game against Coppin State, the team has a week before its next game at Cleveland State on Dec. 19.

“Playing tomorrow and then having a week off before playing Cleveland State, and then having a few days before we play Ole Miss, will definitely help out,” said Huggins.

Tip off for Saturday’s game against Coppin State is set for 7 p.m. The Big East Network (John Sanders and John Celestand) will air the game on the following stations: WCHS (Charleston), WOAY (Beckley), WVFX (Clarksburg), WTAP (Parkersburg), WPCW (Pittsburgh), Time Warner (Milwaukee), MASN (Baltimore), Brighthouse (Florida), WJAL (Washington, D.C.), SNY (New York) and ESPN Full Court.

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