WVU Basketball: Mountaineers Avenge Last Season's Loss, Upset No. 8 Purdue

So how many people predicted the West Virginia Mountaineers would upset then No. 12 Georgetown and No.8 Purdue in the span of a week?

Oh, no hands rose, huh?

With the Mountaineers changing their fortunes after early season struggles, Bob Huggins was able to avenge their loss on New Year’s Day 2010 to Purdue in West Lafayette, utilizing the team's ability to crash the offensive boards since the beginning of their four game winning streak on the 4th of January at DePaul.

In the first half, sophomore Deniz Kilicli kept the Mountaineers’ close to the Boilermakers with his inside scoring ability, grabbing rebounds off misses from the dangerous Purdue duo of E’Twaun Moore and JaJuan Johnson, who combined for 40 points today.

With the second half beginning with a one point West Virginia lead, Kevin Jones and John Flowers made their presence felt with impressive outside shooting games that included several deep two and three-point plays late in the ball game.

For Purdue, forward Johnson gave WVU headaches throughout the length of the contest as he went 10-17 from the field accounting for 26 of the Boilermakers’ 64 points when the game went final.

The aforementioned Moore and Lewis Jackson also lifted Purdue today as they scored 14 and 10, respectively.

With WVU finding a line-up formula, Huggins can maximize his team’s ability to grab rebounds, and keep the hot streak that Jones and Flowers have been on going for now and—with any luck—the remaining schedule for 2011.

With that being said, let’s go to the stats to show how the Mountaineers knocked off their second Top 15 team in a week.

Players of the Game

West Virginia – Kevin Jones: 17 Points, Nine Rebounds, Assist

Purdue – JaJuan Johnson: 26 Points, Seven Rebounds, Two Steals, Two Assists

Shooting

West Virginia – 46 Field Goal Percentage, 17-26 Free Throw Attempts

Purdue – 48.3 Field Goal Percentage, 5-7 Free Throw Attempts

Rebounding

West Virginia – 34 Rebounds, 11 Offensive Rebounds

Purdue – 28 Rebounds, Seven Offensive Rebounds

Turnovers

West Virginia – 17 Turnovers (Team Leader: Lewis Jackson – 4)

Purdue – 12 Turnovers (Team Leader: Deniz Kilicli – 4)

Upcoming Games for Both Clubs

West Virginia – vs. Marshall Thundering Herd (Charleston, WV) – Jan. 19, 2011

Purdue – vs. Penn State Nittany Lions – Jan. 19, 2011