CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - Kevin Jones scored 18 of his 25 points in the second half to lead West Virginia to a 78-62 win over intrastate rival Marshall on Wednesday night.
Darryl "Truck" Bryant added 22 points for the Mountaineers (14-5).
Marshall (13-5) saw its four-game winning streak snapped. DeAndre Kane led the Thundering Herd with 19 points and Damier Pitts added 15.
The Mountaineers came out of a halftime tie with a pair of dominant runs in the second half to pull away.
It marked West Virginia's biggest margin of victory since the annual series moved to Charleston in 1992.
Marshall, the nation's third-best rebounding team, was outrebounded 37-27. That occurred despite West Virginia center Deniz Kilicli sitting out the game with a boot on his right ankle that he injured in practice earlier this week.
Redshirt freshman Kevin Noreen got his first career start in Kilicli's place and surpassed his season scoring average when he scored two early baskets.
Noreen wasn't much of a factor the rest of the game, but he didn't need to be. Jones and Bryant took over in the second half, when the Mountaineers shot 61.5 percent (16 of 26) from the floor.
The lead changed five times early in the second half, then Marshall fell flat, going nearly six minutes between field goals and getting few second chances for baskets. West Virginia freshman Jabarie Hinds made a pair of field goals following Marshall turnovers and West Virginia broke open a tight game with a 10-0 run for a 46-37 lead with 11:27 remaining.
Marshall got no closer than seven points the rest of the game.
West Virginia kept up the intensity, getting 10 points from Jones in a four-minute stretch and using a 12-2 run to jump ahead 64-47 with 3:54 left.
Hinds and Gary Browne added 10 points apiece for West Virginia, which returns to Big East play at home Saturday against Cincinnati.
Marshall, which is alone in first place in Conference USA, plays at Southern Miss on Saturday.
