Derek Culver helps No. 12 West Virginia blow past TCU

MORGANTOWN, W. Va. — At the going rate, Derek Culver would probably like to see TCU on West Virginia’s schedule more than twice a season.

A season after becoming the first WVU player to record a 20-20 game since 1977 — it came in a triple-overtime win against the Horned Frogs last season — Culver strutted his stuff again.

The 6-foot-10 sophomore forward finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds — his fourth double-double of the season — in leading the 12th-ranked Mountaineers to a dominating 81-49 on Tuesday in front of 11,445 fans inside the WVU Coliseum.

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Last season, it was 22 points and 21 rebounds for Culver against the Horned Frogs. He may have approached those numbers again Tuesday, but WVU coach Bob Huggins elected to take him out of the game midway through the second half.

“I don’t know if there’s something there that I’m having good games against TCU,” Culver said. “I try to approach every game with the same mind set. For some reason, the TCU games are better than most. I’ll live with it.”

The Horned Frogs may not.

Culver had plenty of help from his teammates in this one, including WVU players off the bench.

Just how important was the Mountaineers’ bench in this one?

By halftime, WVU’s bench had outscored TCU, 26-23, with Brandon Knapper, Chase Harler and Sean McNeil combining for 20 points.

Each hit at least one 3-pointer in a first half that saw WVU (14-2, 3-1) go on a 14-0 run that turned a back-and-forth game into a 23-11 advantage midway through the first half.

“It always looks better when shots are going in,” said Harler, who finished with seven points off the bench. “We’re taking better shots and I think we have a bunch of guys who can step in on any given night and make plays. I think we all have enough confidence to continually shoot it and live with the result.”

Gabe Osabuohien also came off the bench with his usual stellar all-around play. He had three rebounds and two assists and forced two turnovers by drawing an offensive foul and a traveling call in the first half. He finished with five rebounds, five assists and three steals.

“Gabe just continues to get better and better,” Culver said. “What he does for us each game is so valuable. He may not always get noticed by his stats, but he does a lot for us on booth ends of the floor.”

McNeil punctuated the first half with a 3-pointer from about 25 feet away that barely grazed the rim on its way through the basket.

In all, WVU’s bench contributed 39 points, its most since scoring 45 earlier this season against Ohio State.

Speaking of shots from behind the arc, TCU (12-4, 3-1) entered the game as the Big 12’s top 3-point shooting team, but the Horned Frogs struggled just to get a good look early. WVU defenders constantly ran at TCU’s shooters, forcing them to put the put the ball on the floor and drive away from the line.

“I still think we have a ways to go,” Huggins said. “We screwed up some switches. We gave them too many open looks. I thought we did a better job (against Texas Tech on Saturday) of challenging shots than we did today at times. I thought today, at times, we did a great a great job, but it wasn’t as consistent.”

That began to change in the second half, as the Horned Frogs hit four of their first six 3-point attempts, but by that time Culver and Oscar Tshiebwe — 11 points and six rebounds — had begun to flex their muscles on the inside to help the Mountaineers take a commanding 61-38 lead with 11:37 remaining in the game.

TCU had no answer for West Virginia’s dominance around the rim, which saw WVU hold a 38-24 edge on the glass and an even more impressive 36-10 advantage in points in the paint.

“We said it very clearly, ‘We can’t get beat on the boards,’ ” TCU head coach Jamie Dixon said. “We got beat there by some astronomical number. That was one thing I didn’t get right for today.”

The duo also forced both of TCU tallest players — Kevin Samuel and Jason LeDee — to foul out of the game by the 6:43 mark of the second half.

West Virginia, which improved to No. 12 in the AP poll on Monday — the school’s highest ranking since being No. 7 in January 2018 — won its eighth straight against the Horned Frogs at the Coliseum. TCU has never won in Morgantown.

And the Mountaineers may be moving up the national rankings, needing a victory Saturday on the road against Kansas State to go 2-0 for the week.

The Wildcats have yet to win a Big 12 game this season and fell at home to Texas Tech on Tuesday, 77-63.

TCU was led by guard R.J. Nembhard, who finished with 14 points, but the Horned Frogs were held to just 14 of 44 (31.8%) shooting.

WVU freshman Miles McBride added 11 points, his seventh consecutive game in double figures and Jermaine Haley also added 11 points for the Mountaineers, which shot 30 of 58 (52%) from the field.

West Virginia Mountaineers guard Taz Sherman (12) pulls down the rebound over TCU Horned Frogs guard PJ Fuller (4) on Tuesday.

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Derek Culver helps No. 12 West Virginia blow past TCU

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