At 6-foot-10 and 285 pounds, Jimmy Bell Jr. is not a young man afraid of contact.
“I used to be a football player, so I don’t have any problem with contact,” Bell said after scoring 10 points and grabbing eight rebounds in West Virginia’s 75-57 victory against Morehead State on Tuesday inside the Coliseum. “People grab me and do whatever they have to do to stop me. I’m 280 pounds, so I expect it every game.”
His individual game took a step forward against the Eagles, as he began to work his way around the paint. He also added three blocked shots.
“I’m working every day,” Bell said. “I have to know my role on the team. I may not be the offensive player on team, but I play defense and do all the dirty work. I’m happy to do whatever to help the team win.”
His offense has been a work in progress through the first two games of the season, but his teammates have seen what he’s capable of in practice.
“There’s been times we’ve seen him dominate an entire practice and not miss anything,” WVU forward Tre Mitchell said. “Nobody can do anything about it, because at the end of the day, when he gets in that mode, there’s not many people who can stop him.”
Bell joked he’s even been recruited to play some football at WVU.
“I miss football,” Bell said. “I talk to some of the football players and they’re like, ‘If you don’t want to play basketball anymore, we could use a left tackle.’ ”
Okonkwo sits out
WVU forward James Okonkwo did not play against Morehead State, the result, WVU head coach Bob Huggins said, of not working hard enough in practice.
“He didn’t do anything bad,” Huggins said. “In most people’s minds, it wasn’t anything bad. In my mind, we’re trying to get ready for a game, so I was kind of upset with a whole crew, probably James more than the rest. They weren’t taking it real serious.”
After the game, Okonkwo was seen running the stairs inside the Coliseum.
News and notes
Huggins is just one victory shy of tying Jim Calhoun for third on the all-time Division I wins list. Huggins is at 919 wins, while Calhoun is at 920.
WVU has shot better than 45% from the floor every game this season. The Mountaineers finished 29 of 62 (47%) against the Eagles and are now shooting a collective 49.4% for the season.
Junior-college transfer Patrick Suemnick made his season debut with 7:41 remaining in the game and scored on a lay-up three minutes later for his first points of the season.
Suemnick had minor knee surgery in the offseason and has been working to get back into the lineup. He added two rebounds.
Huggins picked up his first technical foul of the season, and it only took him a little more than four minutes to get it. Huggins picked up the whistle after Bell didn’t get a foul called on his hook shot at the 15:56 mark of the first half and Huggins voiced his displeasure.
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