MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — Jesse Edwards scored 16 points and West Virginia defeated Drexel 66-60 on Saturday.
Edwards made 7-of-10 shots and grabbed five rebounds for the Mountaineers (4-5). Quinn Slazinski had 14 points and six rebounds. Seth Wilson came off the bench and had 11 points and five assists.
Justin Moore led the Dragons (5-5) with 20 points. Moore made 9 of 18 on two 3-pointers, had four rebounds, four assists and three steals. He also converted six of Drexel’s 17 turnovers. The mistake cost West Virginia 22 points. Amari Williams totaled 12 points and 15 rebounds, achieving her third double-double of the season.
Moore made 4 of 5 3-pointers, giving Drexel a 33-31 lead at halftime. Slazinski scored 11 points and Wilson hit three 3-pointers for nine points to keep West Virginia within a narrow lead.
Josiah Harris opened the second half with a dunk and Kobe Johnson followed with a layup to give West Virginia its first lead of the game at 35-33. Moore made a 3-pointer with 13 minutes and 18 seconds left to pull Drexel by 48 points. Neither team scored until Wilson’s layup with 9:20 left gave the Mountaineers the lead. Harris followed with a dunk, and West Virginia stayed ahead from there.
West Virginia was coming off back-to-back losses to former Big East rivals St. John’s University and the University of Pittsburgh. Blake Hinson made nine 3-pointers and the Panthers scored 16 points for an 80-63 win, tying a WVU Coliseum record.
Drexel, which hasn’t played at West Virginia since 1980, is coached by Morgantown native Zach Spiker. Spiker’s father, John, was inducted into the West Virginia Sports Hall of Fame in 2017 and was the athletic trainer for the Mountaineers football team for 40 years before retiring in 2015.