WVU looking for scorers to help Staten

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) - Defections at West Virginia put coach Bob Huggins on the spot to find some scoring help for Big 12 preseason player of the year Juwan Staten.

Front-line additions should soften the burden. Forwards Jonathan Holton and Elijah Macon will make their debuts after sitting out last season.

The Mountaineers were outrebounded in most of their Big 12 games and Huggins believes the roster is better suited to overcome that as well as improve the teams inside scoring. Macon is 6-foot-9 and Holton is 6-7. West Virginia also returns 6-9 sophomores Devin Williams, Nathan Adrian and Brandon Watkins.

I like our front line, Huggins said.

Staten returns for his senior season after leading the Big 12 in scoring at 18.1 points per game. He also averaged a league-high 37 minutes on the court.

I kind of want him to do the same thing he did a year ago, Huggins said. I would like to get the same production with not as many minutes.

Staten, who was slowed by a twisted ankle at the start of preseason practice, was named preseason player of the year in a vote by Big 12 coaches.

Preseason is great, Staten said. Postseason is what I want.

The Mountaineers went 17-16 in 2013-14, missing the NCAA tournament for the second straight season. That hadnt happened to a Huggins-coached team in 22 years.

Whats the difference between having a great year and a good year? Huggins said. Its making some shots at the end, making some free throws and getting some stops when you have to. If we do that, we have a chance to be really good. Think about how many games we lost at the end of the game last year. We lost a ton of them for a lot of reasons.

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WVU looking for scorers to help Staten