West Virginia daily

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. Nov 13, 2005 - Kevin Pittsnogle scored 19 points to lead No. 14 West Virginia to a 61-41 victory over Wofford on Sunday and a berth in the semifinals of the Guardians Classic.

The Mountaineers, ranked in the preseason poll for just the second time in school history, trailed 24-19 at halftime but scored the first 13 points of the second half. That was part of a 23-2 run spanning both halves that put West Virginia ahead 40-26 with 12:15 left.

West Virginia (2-0) plays the winner of the regional hosted by No. 2 Texas in a semifinal in Kansas City, Mo., on Nov. 21. The other regional sites are at No. 9 Kentucky and No. 20 Iowa.

The Mountaineers went 1-of-10 from 3-point range in the first half and had to rely on Pittsnogle's inside scoring. He scored 13 of West Virginia's first 17 points, 10 inside.

The Mountaineers jump-started the big run by switching from man-to-man defense to its trademark 1-3-1 zone. That triggered multiple Wofford turnovers it finished with 20 that were easily converted into points once West Virginia found its shooting touch.

Other than Pittsnogle, West Virginia was 3-of-19 from the field in first half. It was 8-for-27 overall in the first half (29.6 percent) and finished 14-of-32 (43.8 percent). It hit eight 3s in the second half.

Reserve Patrick Beilein scored all 12 of his on 3-pointers in a 6-minute span in the second half for the Mountaineers and Joe Herber had 10 assists for the second consecutive game.

The Mountaineers scored 44 of the game's final 61 points. Their biggest lead came with 24 seconds left when Darris Nichols hit two free throws to make it 61-39.

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