MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) -Da'Sean Butler scored 27 and Alex Ruoff added 19 to lead West Virginia to a 62-59 win over South Florida on Saturday.
Butler scored 17 points in the first half for the Mountaineers (13-4, 2-2 Big East Conference). He scored eight straight points during a 20-3 run as West Virginia claimed a 32-17 lead in the first half.
The Mountaineers went on to build their biggest lead at 17 points in the first half, before heading into halftime with a 34-20 advantage.
South Florida (6-11, 1-4) did cut West Virginia's lead to 51-50 on a 3-pointer by Dominique Jones with 5:27 left in the second half. The Bulls kept the margin at one point down the stretch but never pulled ahead as the Mountaineers went up by five points on Alex Ruoff's free throw.
Jones led South Florida with 35 points and grabbed eight rebounds.
