If there was a shred of doubt left about any lingering effects of Alex Ruoff's subluxed rib which kept him out of action for two games, the senior guard erased it with his performance on Tuesday night.
Ruoff had the best game of his career, sinking nine-of-14 three-point attempts en route to a career-high 38 points as WVU easily outclassed the Highlanders.
The nine 3s were a school record, besting the previous mark of eight held by Chris Leonard, Mike Gansey and Frank Young. He also snared eight rebounds and came away with five steals in the win.
NET BURNERS
West Virginia again exerted its will on the offensive glass, despite being undersized against the starting front line of Radford.
WVU grabbed 23 offensive rebounds, leading to 35 second-chance points. Devin Ebanks led the way with six offensive boards. He finished with 10 total rebounds. For the game, WVU outrebounded the Highlanders 48-31.
Cam Thoroughman again saw a healthy dose of minutes, and responded with one of the best games of his career. Thoroughman, finished with six points and eight rebounds in 20 minutes.
After the game, Huggins singled Throughman out as the team's most physical player.
"In fact, the more I think about it, he might be our only physical player," Huggins deadpanned.
If nothing else, West Virginia's win over the Highlanders sent a message -- don't mess with Huggins.
WVU had asked for the game to be played last week when the Mountaineers had a week off between wins over Duquesne and Miami of Ohio. Radford, though, didn't budge, insisting that the game be played Tuesday night. Thus, West Virginia's players will not get to spend any time at home close to Christmas.
RU's reward for being so hellbent on playing the game two days before Christmas? A 35-point loss, and nearly a 40-point night for Ruoff, who stayed in the game until 1:28 remained in the second half and was doing his best to become the first WVU player since Lowes Moore in 1978 to score at least 40.