West Virginia men's basketball dominates Jamie Dixon, TCU

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Derek Culver scored 17 points, West Virginia’s bench provided a huge lift on offense and the 12th-ranked Mountaineers stomped TCU, 81-49, on Tuesday night.

West Virginia (14-2, 3-1 Big 12) is unbeaten in eight home games and has held 10 opponents this season to 60 points or fewer, including five straight.

TCU (12-4, 3-1) remains winless in Morgantown since joining the Big 12 in the 2012-13 season. The Horned Frogs missed a chance to take over sole possession of first place in the league and had their four-game winning streak snapped.

Miles McBride, Oscar Tshiebwe and Jermaine Haley added 11 points apiece for West Virginia.

RJ Nembhard led TCU with 14 points, and Desmond Bane added 13.

West Virginia’s bench outscored TCU’s, 39-6.

The Mountaineers’ backup guards broke open a close game midway through the first half and turned the momentum in their favor for good. Reserves Brandon Knapper and Chase Harler hit back-to-back 3-pointers not long after checking in to start a 14-0 run. Harler had seven points during the burst. Backup guard Sean McNeil’s 3-pointer just before halftime put the Mountaineers ahead 37-23.

TCU, led by former Pitt coach Jamie Dixon, is the Big 12’s best 3-point shooting team with 9.8 made per game and went to its outside game to try to close the gap. The Horned Frogs hit four 3-pointers in the first four minutes of the second half to cut the deficit to 44-36.

But TCU couldn’t stop the inside tandem of Tshiebwe and Culver, who made the paint their personal playground after halftime. Tshiebwe scored seven unanswered points, and Culver followed with four straight of his own midway through the second half.

TCU committed 20 turnovers and was outrebounded 38-24.

The Mountaineers have been getting attention for their defense of late, but they shot a season-high 57.7% from the floor. Culver went 6 of 7, McBride went 5 of 7, and Tshiebwe and Haley both went 4 of 6. It was the first time in a month that West Virginia surpassed 80 points.

West Virginia travels to Kansas State on Saturday.