MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Working with its full rotation for the first time this season, West Virginia allowed Mercyhurst to score 19 points over the first 13 minutes of Sunday’s matchup at Hope Coliseum.

The Lakers managed only 19 from that point forward, with the Mountaineers opening up a comfortable lead in the late stages of the first half and hardly looking back in a 70-38 victory.

WVU (6-2) allowed the fewest points it has in any game since a 77-38 victory against Coppin State in December 2017.

“Our defensive activity on the ball with deflections and disrupting what they wanted to do offensively was really good most of the night,” WVU head coach Ross Hodge said.

Playing for the first time in a week after seven games in a 20-day stretch to start the season, the Mountaineers got off to a strong start and built leads of 10-0 and 16-2. 

The Lakers (3-5) settled in over the next 7 minutes and got separate three-pointers from Jake Lemelman and Bernie Blunt to trail 18-11. 

Mercyhurst’s deficit remained seven at 26-19 after Blunt scored in the paint 7:08 before halftime.

The next field goal didn’t come until the 3:35 mark when WVU freshman guard Amir Jenkins made a pull-up jump shot to leave the home team with a 29-19 advantage. It came in the early stages of a 13-3 spurt to end the half for Hodge’s team, which held the Lakers to one field goal — a Lemelman trey — over the final 7 minutes of the half. 

“We still have to get better on the defensive side, but when we do it right, it looks good and it works,” Jenkins said. “Honing down and being more consistent to do it for longer periods of time is what we’re working on now.”

Jenkins and Chance Moore combined to score West Virginia’s final 15 first-half points, including five from Moore during an 8-0 run to end the half in what marked his first time playing before a home crowd.

Leading 39-22 at halftime, the Mountaineers had made 16-of-25 shots from the field.

WVU continued to dominate defensively and held the Lakers without a field goal for more than 4 minutes to start the second half. 

During that time, Treysen Eaglestaff made a triple, while Jasper Floyd and DJ Thomas both went 2 for 2 at the free-throw line, making it 15 unanswered points altogether for the Mountaineers and a 46-22 advantage.

Floyd’s conventional three-point play with 9:40 remaining made it a 30-point margin for the first time at 59-28, and the Mountaineers were well on their way to ending a two-game skid.

Jackson Fields, a 6-foot-8 senior forward, made his Mountaineer debut and finished with nine points, three rebounds and two assists in 12 minutes. Fields scored seven points in the second half and made 3-of-5 field-goal attempts in his first outing at WVU.

“He finished well around the basket for not having played a game,” Hodge said. “He gives you some versatility. He’s another good rebounder. For his first time out, it was pretty good.”

Fields wanted to let the game come to him in favor of trying to do too much.

“Just praying and relaxing and sitting back knowing that I’ve played Division I basketball for these last four years,” said Fields, a Troy transfer. “I was taking my time. It’s just basketball.” 

Moore led the Mountaineers with 11 points, the seventh time in eight games there’s been a different leading scorer for West Virginia.

“It shows we’re a very unselfish team,” Moore said. “We’re always willing to make the extra pass and extra play and that will end up paying dividends in the long run.”

Jenkins added 10, while Eaglestaff and Lorient matched Fields’ point total, giving the Mountaineers five players with at least nine points.

WVU made only 10-of-30 second-half field-goal attempts, but held the Lakers to seven baskets after halftime and 16 for the game. The 16 field goals allowed tied a season best for the Mountaineers, matching what they gave up in their third game against Lehigh.

“Our attention to detail was good. Our communication was good,” Hodge said. 

Blunt was the lone double-figure scorer for Mercyhurst with 14 points. 

The Lakers made 1-of-8 free throws.