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No. 20 West Virginia beats Marshall 86-68

West Virginia Marshall Basketball

West Virginia’s Devin Williams (41) shoots a layup against Marshall during an NCAA college basketball game in Charleston, W.Va., on Thursday, Dec. 17, 2015. West Virginia won 86-68. (AP Photo Tyler Evert)

AP

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) Jevon Carter scored 15 points and No. 20 West Virginia used its depth to wear down Marshall for an 86-68 victory Thursday night.

West Virginia (9-1) took control with a 16-1 run early in the second half to beat its intrastate rival for the fifth straight year and for the ninth time in 10 tries.

Daxter Miles Jr. added 14 points, Elijah Macon had 12, and Tarik Phillip 11.

Ryan Taylor led Marshall (3-7) with 15 points. Jon Elmore added 14, and James Kelly had 11.

Marshall had won three straight.

Kelly, Marshall’s leading scorer, went to the bench with a left knee injury early in the second half. He returned six minutes later still limping.

The Thundering Herd went nearly eight minutes between baskets and the turnovers started to pile up.

West Virginia leads the country in offensive rebounds at 18 per game and got plenty of second chances against Marshall.

The Mountaineers made four baskets off of rebounds during the key run, including Nathan Adrian’s putback for a 53-39 lead with 10:50 left.

West Virginia’s lead grew to as many as 23 points down the stretch.

The Mountaineers’ Devin Williams was held to nine points, the first time this season he failed to reach double digits. He spent most of the game in foul trouble.

Marshall made half of its 12 3-point tries over the first 13 minutes to jump ahead 26-21. But Marshall couldn’t sustain any production from its reserves, especially when Kelly and Taylor were out of the game in foul trouble. West Virginia held a 38-12 advantage in bench points.

West Virginia went on a 7-0 run late in the half and took a 35-32 lead at halftime.

TIP-INS:

West Virginia: West Virginia outrebounded Marshall 48-32, including 22 on the offensive end. ... The Mountaineers matched their 9-1 start of last season, when they finished 25-10.

Marshall: Taylor became the 50th Thundering Herd player to surpass 1,000 points.

UP NEXT:

West Virginia: Home against Eastern Kentucky on Monday.

Marshall: Plays Wyoming in Las Vegas on Monday.