MORGANTOWN — Bob Huggins made good on his promise to give a good look at his younger guards Tuesday night in a 79-63 victory against Iowa State that ended the Mountaineers’ seven-game losing streak.
Freshman Kobe Johnson made his second start of the season — in place of point guard Kedrian Johnson — and ran the offense in the early minutes and knocked down his first 3-point attempt of the game.
Fellow freshman Seth Wilson came off the bench a few minutes into the game and made an instant impact.
First, it was a drive to the basket, which was followed by a 3-pointer 30 seconds later. Wilson capped off his first minute of action by handling the ball at the top of the key with a couple of dribbles before nailing another shot.
“He reminds me of me a little bit,” WVU guard Taz Sherman said. “He’s got a different body type, but he can score in versatile ways.”
In the span of the first 66 seconds he was in, Wilson scored all seven points in his pocket, his season high.
“He played great in the first half,” Huggins said of Wilson. “I got him out, because he kind of took an early shot. It wasn’t a bad shot, but I wanted those other guys who had some experience to finish the game out.”
Roy Williams in the house
Former Kansas and North Carolina head coach Roy Williams was in attendance.
According to WVU spokesman Bryan Messerly, Williams was scheduled to check out a WVU game in the Coliseum two weeks ago, but bad weather kept him out of Morgantown.
“He’s such a good guy,” Huggins said. “He told me he’s always wanted to come here and experience a game at the Coliseum. He’s heard so much about it. I wish we had a few more people here for him, but he said he’s heard so much about the atmosphere and he’s always wanted to come and see a game. He called me this morning, and I said, ‘Come on.’ ”
Williams, who retired at the end of last season, finished his coaching career with 903 wins, six Final Four appearances and three national championships. Huggins surpassed him on the all-time wins list in November, with WVU’s 66-59 against Clemson in the Charleston Classic.
Huggins and Williams shared a conversation during warm-ups and Williams then talked, shook hands and took pictures with many fans who approached him.
Someone even handed Williams a WVU hoodie, which he wore during the game.
News and notes
WVU forward Gabe Osabuohien picked up his third foul of the game while walking to the locker room for halftime.
Osabuohien was unhappy he didn’t get the call earlier in the game on a block/charge situation and said something to the referees while walking off the floor. They whistled him with a technical foul. Iowa State guard Izaiah Brockington began the second half by making two free throws.
Iowa State guard Izaiah Brockington entered the game fourth in the Big 12 in scoring at 16.9 points per game, but he was held to 11 points on 4 of 12 shooting.
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