WVU beats Nicholls St behind Culver, Tshiebwe double-doubles

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — Derek Culver scored 16 points and grabbed 16 rebounds to lead West Virginia to an 83-57 victory over Nicholls State on Saturday.

Oscar Tshiebwe had 15 points and 11 rebounds, Miles McBride scored 15, and Emmitt Matthews Jr. and Sean McNeil scored 10 apiece for the Mountaineers (9-1).

West Virginia transfer D’Angelo Hunter scored 14 points for Nicholls State (6-5), including a three-point play that helped erase a 10-point deficit and tied the game at 43-all with 16:43 left. But the Colonels never retook the lead.

Culver scored six points during an ensuing 20-5 run that gave the Mountaineers a 63-48 lead with 8:57 left. Nicholls State got no closer than 11 points after that.

Nicholls State committed 17 turnovers and shot 4 of 25 (16%) from 3-point range.

West Virginia outrebounded Nicholls State 44-27, including 19-9 on the offensive glass.

BIG PICTURE

Nicholls State: The Colonels, who saw their four-game winning streak snapped, are third in Division I with 21.2 forced turnovers a game and are fourth with an average of 11.2 steals. They forced 16 turnovers and had nine steals Saturday.

West Virginia: The Mountaineers’ bench outscored Nicholls State 39-6. Both Culver and Tshiebwe had their third double-doubles of the season.

UP NEXT

Nicholls State: Hosts Texas A&M-Corpus Christian on Wednesday.

West Virginia: Plays at Youngstown State on Dec. 21.