MORGANTOWN — Jimmy Bell Jr.’s first career double-double earned him a TV interview and a water-bottle shower from his teammates.
“It just feels good,” said Bell who finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds in West Virginia’s 96-78 victory against Buffalo on Sunday inside the Coliseum. “I didn’t have a good first half, but at halftime my teammates were talking to me. I got my mind set right and came out ready to play.”
Bell said it was a matter of playing through frustration and also scoring through a lot of contact that led to his big night.
He was right about the contact. He was fouled nine times during the game, none of them of the soft variety.
“I’m a big guy,” said Bell, who is listed at 6-foot-10 and 285 pounds. “I’m bigger than most of the guys we play. They got to try and do what they’ve got to do. I’m going to do what I do on offense, so I guess they just fouled me a lot.”
Bell’s play has begun to improve since the loss to Xavier, in which he had 12 points and six rebounds. He also added eight points and eight rebounds last week against UAB.
“I think he’s played well the last couple of games,” WVU head coach Bob Huggins said. “I’ve been trying not to wear him out, but keep him in shape. I didn’t do a very good job.”
On the night, even though his 18 points were a career high, Bell said the rebounds mattered more.
“I’m not really too much on the points, but it was good to score, too,” he said. “The rebounds are more important to me.”
Matthews Jr. out
WVU forward Emmitt Matthews Jr. missed the game with a left knee injury.
He is officially listed as day-to-day by the school, but he did not practice during the week, but did shoot on the side.
Matthews had previously started the first 10 games of the season and was averaging 10.8 points and 3.8 rebounds per game.
He took a hard blow to his left knee early in last week’s victory against UAB, but eventually returned and played 34 minutes, while scoring 16 points in that game.
Matthews leaped in the air to snag an inbounds pass near midcourt on that play and then had his knee bend awkwardly as he came back to the ground.
During his pregame radio show, Huggins said there was some swelling in Matthews’ knee.
“It was something we hoped would go away, and after two days, we knew it wasn’t going to,” Huggins said. “The good thing is it’s not something that needs repaired. It’s just going to take some time to get back to normal.”
Matthews was replaced in the starting lineup by sophomore guard Kobe Johnson in a three-guard look.
News and notes
** WVU’s 96 points was a season high.
** For the sixth time this season, WVU shot better than 50% from the field, finishing 33 of 64 (51.6%). That matches the amount of games the Mountaineers had last season in shooting 50% or better in a game.
** WVU’s free-throw shooting was a big difference in the game. The Mountaineers were 22 of 33 from the line, while the Bulls were just 8 of 13.
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