Thomas, Huff lead Mountaineers past Lafayette, 81-59 – WV MetroNews

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia guard Honor Huff does the majority of his damage from the perimeter.

Mountaineer freshman DJ Thomas generally makes his presence felt closer to the basket.

Together, that combination was too much for Lafayette in a Monday night matchup at Hope Coliseum. Thomas led all players with 25 points and Huff accounted for 24 on eight three-pointers as the Mountaineers never trailed in an 81-59 victory against the Leopards.

“Every team is going to play you a little different and we knew going into this game they were going to zone some and they had double-teamed the post,” first-year West Virginia head coach Ross Hodge said. “We figured they were going to double team Harlan [Obioha] and B-Lo [Brenen Lorient], and that’s the first play that Honor got his shot from. DJ got to his spots to where he needed to be and he was the recipient of some really good passes. He found himself in good position and finished and left a couple on the table that he probably wished he could’ve finished as well.”

The result enables WVU (5-0) to complete its season-opening home stand unbeaten, while the Leopards fell to 1-4.

“We did what we were supposed to do. You have to take court of home court,” Hodge said.

Huff showed what type of performance it would be on his team’s first possession when he received a pass from Jasper Floyd and connected from beyond the arc.

“About time. It felt good to see a couple go in right away,” Huff said. “I’ve struggled to start these past couple games and that kind of sets the trajectory unconsciously for the rest of the game.”

Lafayette hung tough for the first 10 minutes and was tied at 13 when Mark Butler scored in the paint.

Thomas then took over for a stretch, accounting for seven straight points to leave the home team on top 20-13.

“Just having a mindset of being ready. I know these guys are putting in work, so I have to keep up that production level when I get in off the bench,” Thomas said.

WVU gained its first double-figure lead on Huff’s third triple 4:19 before halftime, and the 5-foot-10 senior guard added two more before the break, including one just before time expired directly in front of the Leopards’ bench. 

Huff’s 15 first-half points combined with Thomas’ 11 staked West Virginia to a 36-25 halftime lead.

“He has the ability to get on a roll and start making some tough shots, which he did tonight,” Hodge said. “The one right before the half was a big momentum shot.“

Huff hardly wasted time picking up where he left off to start the second half and made a trey at the 17:19 mark to increase the advantage to 43-29. His seventh three came with 15:15 remaining and Huff added an eighth at the 11:25 mark to leave the Mountaineers with their largest lead of the night, 58-34.

With eight threes, Huff tied the second-highest single-game mark in program history and was one short of Alex Ruoff’s record  set in December 2008 against Radford. Huff did not attempt a shot in the final 11 minutes. 

“It wasn’t until the fans started screaming about [the single game WVU record for threes] when I was on the bench,” Huff said of when he became aware the feat was within reach. “I’m like, talk to Ross Hodge. I’m happy we got the win. I wasn’t really worried about that. That’ll come.”

Thomas, meanwhile, continued to assert himself after halftime and was extremely efficient, making 6-of-7 second-half field-goal attempts.

Largely on the strength of its perimeter shooting, Lafayette fought back to within 14 with 6:44 remaining and 12 at the 2:55 mark on an Andrew Phillips three.

WVU outscored the Leopards 12-2 the rest of the way with Thomas and fellow freshman Amir Jenkins combining for eight of those points.

“I was proud of the way we finished the last 4 minutes — the last couple of minutes in particular,” Hodge said.

Thomas’ output marked the highest point total for a WVU freshman since March 2019 when Emmitt Matthews scored 28 against Texas Tech.

“He has a great feel. He played for a good really high school program. He’s really mature,” Hodge said. “He’s a good listener and listening is a skill just like running fast and jumping high. The ability to listen to what your coach is asking you do to and go execute that. He’s getting better defensively as well. He was the recipient of some good passing tonight from our team.”

Jenkins and Brenen Lorient scored nine apiece in the victory.

Phillips led Lafayette with 19 points and Caleb Williams score 16.

Lafayette made 10-of-22 threes. WVU entered having held opponents to a 26.4 percent (19 for 72) mark from distance.

WVU, 5-0 for the first time since 2019, has yet to allow an opponent to record more assists than turnovers in a game this season after Lafayette finished with 14 assists and 19 turnovers.

The Leopards entered averaging 11.5 turnovers.

“Typically, we’re a low assist defense,” Hodge said. “Fourteen assists is a big number for them. Fortunately, we were able to balance it out with 19 turnovers. There’s that fine line of keeping that ball in front of you and when you are beat, being able to funnel it to where help is.”