West Virginia (15-20) shook off a slow start to defeat Grand Canyon in the College Basketball Invitational 77-63 advancing to the 2nd round of the CBI.
Grand Canyon (20-14 overall), was a big, skillful team and they shot really well from three early on but West Virginia responded with Jermaine Haley and Emmitt Matthews, Jr. using their athleticism to get to the basket and finish. Chase Harler hit some huge, key shots in the 2nd half and ended up with 10 points. A 22-2 run in the 2nd half opened up to the lead to 18 with only 5 minutes left. Haley finished with 24 points on 11-18 shooting. Matthews had 11 points and 6 rebounds. Derek Culver has 10 rebounds but struggled on the offensive end. Logan Routt played his strongest game of the year, both offensively and defensively.
Grand Canyon, led by former NBA great Dan Majerle, was led by Oscar Frayer (13 points) and Damari Milstead (12 points).
WVU will now play the winner of the Howard/Coastal Carolina game in the 2nd round of the CBI on Monday (TBA) at the Coliseum.