West Virginia struggled through a sloppy first half, but found new life in the second half en route to a 53-43 win over visiting Cleveland State.
For the Mountaineers, freshman forward Devin Ebanks played the best game of his young career. Ebanks finished with 10 points, 17 rebounds, three steals, three assists and two blocks in leading the Mountaineers to their sixth win in seven games this season.
On both ends of the court, Ebanks was aggressive, attacking the defensive glass off of missed Cleveland State shots and attacking the rim on offense.
Though he forced the issue a couple of times trying to lead the break, Ebanks definitely delivered a spark to an otherwise-flat WVU team on Saturday.
NET BURNERS
With starting point guard Joe Mazzulla fighting off a left shoulder contusion, freshman Darryl "Truck" Bryant got the start for West Virginia.
Bryant, who has played quite well off the bench for West Virginia in the early portion of the season, struggled in his first career start, finishing with as many points as turnovers (three). Head coach Bob Huggins eventually pulled Bryant for good at the 17:34 mark of the second half. For the rest of the game, Bryant listened intently to assistant coaches Larry Harrison and Billy Hahn from a seat on the coaches end of the bench.
Sophomore forward John Flowers was active in his 16 minutes of play, finishing with four blocked shots. Flowers only scored two points, but his effort on the defensive end of the court was noticeable.
Jonnie West came off the bench to play a career-high 13 minutes, finishing with three points and no turnovers.
With Mazzulla out of the lineup and Bryant struggling, Alex Ruoff and Da'Sean Butler saw time at the point. Ruoff had to sacrifice some of his scoring, finishing with just five points and taking only four shots. Butler was 7-16 and finished with a game-high 18 points.
Box Score