CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - Da'Sean Butler scored 12 of his 16 points in the second half to lead No. 11 West Virginia to a 68-60 win over Marshall on Wednesday night.

West Virginia (14-3) overcame another poor-shooting performance to earn its fourth straight win over the Thundering Herd (15-3).

Darryl Bryant added 14 points for West Virginia and Kevin Jones scored 13.

Freshman Hassan Whiteside scored 18 points and Chris Lutz had 16 for Marshall, which had its six-game winning streak snapped.

West Virginia went ahead to stay late in the first half but nearly blew a 10-point lead late in the game. The Mountaineers went 6 of 8 from the free-throw line in the final 18 seconds to preserve the win.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

From Marshall University Sports Information:

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The Marshall University men’s basketball dropped a hard fought battle with in-state rival West Virginia in front of 12,380 fans at the Chesapeake Energy Capital Classic in the Charleston Civic Center on Wednesday evening.

MU (15-3) freshman Hassan Whiteside scored a game-high 18 points and grabbed six rebounds, while senior Chris Lutz drained four 3-pointers en route to 16 points, all in the second half, but it was not enough as WVU (14-3) won the fourth meeting in a row.

Whiteside and the Mountaineers’ Da’Sean Butler each earned Capital Classic MVP honors. Butler scored a team-high 16 points and added six rebounds in the win.

MU held the Mountaineers without a field goal for nearly five minutes to open the game, to own an early 6-2 advantage before Butler made a jumper at the 15:02 mark.

Trailing 11-9, Whiteside scored eight of the next ten points, including two three-point play conversions to deadlock the score at 18-18.

Shaquille Johnson drained a 3-pointer from the corner to put MU up 21-19, before WVU used a 7-0 spurt to have a five-point cushion, 26-21. A pair of Whiteside free throws and another 3-pointer from Johnson sandwiched around a free throw by Darryl Bryant put the Herd within a point, 27-26, with 2:58 remaining in the opening half.

WVU closed out the half on a 6-2 run to take a 33-28 advantage into the locker room.

Lutz erupted in the second half as he hit consecutive 3-pointers and sank a pair of free throws to score eight-straight points putting the Herd within a point, 46-45.

After a Whiteside dunk, Dalton Pepper drained a 3-pointer for the Mountaineers at 5:15 remaining. Lutz continued his hot second half shooting making two buckets from behind the arc with MU still trailing 57-55 with 2:41 left in the contest.

Both teams traded baskets, with the Mountaineers still leading 62-57 with 30 seconds to play. Tyler Wilkerson buried a 3-pointer at the top of the key with 19 seconds left to get the Herd within a basket at 62-60.

WVU made 6-of-8 foul shots in the final 20 seconds to stave off the Herd for the eight-point victory, 68-60.

Wilkerson added nine points and six rebounds, while Johnson chipped in with seven points, five assists and five rebounds.

The Herd returns home to the Henderson Center on Saturday, Jan. 23 to play UAB. The Blazers and the Thundering Herd are tied a top the Conference USA standings. Tickets are still available by calling 1-800-THE-HERD or go online to www.HerdZone.com.

Coach Donnie Jones: “Our team played hard and I’m proud of our guys and give West Virginia credit, they found a way to win it down the stretch. Sometimes the physicality is tough on our kids down the stretch and we need to get better at that. I thought our kids fought hard all the way and battled the best we could.”

Senior guard Chris Lutz: “Tonight hurt. We had a lot of chances at the end and we just didn’t come through. We played our hearts out tonight and we are proud of each other and we are going to use this for the rest of the season.”

WVU Women Beat Herd by 32 Points:

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - Vanessa House scored 16 points and No. 16 West Virginia earned its 16th straight win, cruising past Marshall 74-42 on Wednesday night.

Asya Bussie and Korinne Campbell added 14 points apiece, and Sarah Miles had11 for West Virginia (18-1). The winning streak is the Mountaineers' longest since they won 22 straight during the 1991-92 season.

Marshall (11-7) was without third-leading scorer and top rebounder Tynikki Crook, who broke a bone in her hand Sunday and is out for three weeks.

Without Crook, Marshall was held to its lowest scoring output of the season. Veronica Ruiz led the Thundering Herd with 13 points.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

WVU Women Win 16th Straight Game
From WVU Sports Information:

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (January 20, 2010) – West Virginia University’s nationally ranked women’s basketball team routed Marshall, 74-42, for its 16th consecutive victory, Wednesday evening at the Charleston Civic Center.

No. 11/16 West Virginia (18-1, 5-0) dominated play, out-rebounding Marshall (11-7) 44-27 and used its aggressive defense right from the get-go that ultimately forced 22 MU turnovers which equated to 19 Mountaineer points. WVU’s defense also held the Thundering Herd to just 32.6% shooting (14-43) for the contest.

Marshall is the 14th straight Mountaineer opponent to be held under 60 points and the Mountaineers now lead the all-time series by a 33-15 count, have won five straight in the series and eight of the last nine.

The Herd briefly led 2-0 in the first minute and a half of play, before WVU took control of the game midway through the first half with an 11-0 run to make the score 21-6 with 9:09 remaining in the first half and the Mountaineers never looked back.

Four Mountaineers reached double figures in scoring led by redshirt junior guard Vanessa House’s career-best and game-high 16 points off the bench. House was 5-7 from the field, with two 3-pointers, and 4-4 from the free throw line with four assists. Junior guard/forward Korinne Campbell was named WVU’s MVP of the Capital Classic with 14 points and eight rebounds.

Freshman center Asya Bussie added 14 points and five rebounds while junior point guard Sarah Miles chipped in 11 points and four assists. Redshirt junior Madina Ali grabbed a game-best 12 rebounds

WVU came out firing in the second half. After scoring just three points due to foul trouble, junior guard Liz Repella scored WVU’s first six of the half and WVU led 38-14, forcing a Marshall timeout, with 18:18 left in the contest.

WVU led 32-14 at the half, and its pressure defense forced 14 Marshall turnovers and limited the Herd to just 5-23 shooting (21.7%) from the field. Campbell had a game-high nine points at intermission while Bussie had seven and Ali had seven rebounds.

West Virginia returns to action on Sunday, Jan. 24, at 1 p.m., at No. 4 Notre Dame. The contest will air on ESPNU.