By the end of West Virginia’s 81-70 victory Saturday night against UAB, the nation’s leading scorer was forced into becoming a spectator from the bench.
UAB guard Jordan Walker, who entered the game leading the country in scoring at 25.7 points per game, finished with
19 points and added seven assists, but was held in check for much of the game and was also forced into seven turnovers.
In a pregame discussion between head coaches, WVU head coach Bob Huggins and UAB coach Andy Kennedy were talking about Walker’s talents.
“I told Andy that (Walker) could have a pretty good season, as long as he deosn’t have to play Kedy more than once,” Huggins said on his postgame radio show.
WVU point guard Kedrian Johnson was in Walker’s face for most of the night.
“He was terrific on the ball,” Huggins said of his point guard.
Walker didn’t hit his first shot until the 8:13 mark of the first half, and was held to just six points on 2 of 8 shooting at halftime.
He did get going in the second half. Walker scored on two 3-pointers and a pull-up jumper that helped give UAB a 47-45 lead with 14:33 remaining.
The Mountaineers (8-2) took over from there and Walker’s last meaningful basket was a 3-pointer with 8:20 remaining. By then, WVU led 65-58 and had sealed the win.
Kennedy summoned Walker to the bench with three minutes remaining, and he never returned to the game.
Out and in
WVU forward Emmitt Matthews Jr. had a scary moment in the opening minutes.
Standing near midcourt just 31 seconds into the game, Matthews leaped high into the air to field an inbounds pass and was bumped by UAB guard Eric Gaines while in the air.
Matthews landed hard on his left leg and his knee bent awkwardly as he fell to the ground.
He tried to stay in the game, but was substituted for seconds later by Kobe Johnson.
After getting checked out in the locker room, Matthews returned to the game with 13:41 remaining and promptly hit his first 3-pointer.
He made four of his first five attempts and finished with 16 points and nine rebounds.
“Kind of nice that he came back,” Huggins said of Matthews. “It was fun listening to him say it was 100 percent because of my effervescence personality.”
Battle of the boards
WVU’s streak of not having one player record 10 rebounds in a game is now at 18, dating back to last season.
It hasn’t happened since Feb. 14, 2022, when former forward Jalen Bridges grabbed 10 against Kansas State.
As for this game, UAB came away with a 32-30 advantage on the glass. The Blazers also had an 11-7 lead in offensive rebounds, but that only turned into six second-chance points for UAB.
Both teams had 38 points in the paint.
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