MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Kevin Jones scored 13 points to surpass 1,000 for his career and No. 25 West Virginia rode a strong first half to a 56-44 win over Seton Hall on Wednesday night.
Deniz Kilicli and Cam Thoroughman added 10 points apiece for West Virginia (15-6, 6-3 Big East). Jones grabbed 12 rebounds and Joe Mazzulla had 10.
Seton Hall (10-13, 4-7) was held to its lowest scoring output of the season. Jeff Robinson led the Pirates with nine points. Jeremy Hazell, who had averaged 27 points in four previous games against the Mountaineers, was limited to five.
West Virginia led 33-17 at halftime and by as many as 24 points midway through the second half in beating the Pirates for the seventh straight time.
The Mountaineers improved their streak of holding opponents to under 60 points to four games. Seton Hall shot just 29 percent (18 of 61) from the floor and was outrebounded 47-32.
Despite rotating just eight players, the Mountaineers never trailed and began pulling away after Seton Hall's Herb Pope got into foul trouble and sat out most of the first half.
The Pirates went nine minutes between field goals spanning both halves, enabling West Virginia to take control.
West Virginia extended its 16-point halftime lead to 47-23 with 12:08 left in the game after a Thoroughman jumper.
Seton Hall turned things around with a 15-2 run after that but got no closer than nine points the rest of the game.