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Despite career high from Fresh Kimble, St. Joe’s falls to West Virginia 97-90

After an impressive win to open the tournament, the Hawks lost their second straight game and captured fourth place in the event.

Fresh Kimble had a career-high 31 points during the Hawks' loss on Sunday in the Myrtle Beach Invitational.
Fresh Kimble had a career-high 31 points during the Hawks' loss on Sunday in the Myrtle Beach Invitational.Read moreYONG KIM / Staff Photographer

CONWAY, S.C. — Phil Martelli talked about playing the numbers. Sometimes, though, they just don't add up correctly.

Like when West Virginia's Lamont West, relegated to a reserve role after two subpar games, comes off the bench and scores 27 points.

Or when your team, for the better part of the game, shoots better from three-point range than it does from the foul line.

It all added up to West Virginia beating Martelli's St. Joseph's Hawks, 97-90, for third place in the Myrtle Beach Invitational on Sunday at the HTC Center on the campus of Coastal Carolina.

"We play the numbers,'' Martelli said. "Coming in, they forced 14 turnovers a game. We wanted to cut that in half. We did. We knew they banged the glass. We held them to nine offensive rebounds. Then there were the fouls. They took about 30 a game. And we're a team that doesn't foul.''

St. Joe's (3-2) was whistled for 25 fouls. West Virginia (2-2) shot 26-for-33 from the foul line.

"Some of those fouls weren't grown-up fouls,'' Martelli said. "But it's November for the referees, too.''

Nine of those fouls were on the Hawks' top two scorers. Charlie Brown and Taylor Funk both found themselves in foul trouble in the second half.

Brown picked up his third foul at the 15:36 mark, stayed in the game and picked up his fourth trying to get an offensive rebound less that two minutes later.

Funk picked up his third foul at 12:59 and joined Brown on the bench with the score tied 64-64.

When Funk came back in with 10:19 to play, West Virginia (2-2) had opened a 76-69 lead. Brown came back at the 9:01 mark with the Mountaineers up 10, but fouled out 54 seconds later on a charge call that could have just as easily been called a block.

"Block/charge that's the hardest call to make,'' Martelli said. "Maybe I brought Charlie back too soon, I don't know. We just need to develop more depth behind those two. I know that.''

Guard Fresh Kimble scored a career-high 31 for the Hawks, but it wasn't enough to knock off the Big 12 school that was ranked 13th in the nation before the season. The Hawks didn't help themselves at the foul line, either. At one point they were 8-for-19 before hitting their final nine to finish 17-for-28.

Then there was West, who brought back memories of another West from West Virginia — one named Jerry from over a half-century ago. The 6-8 junior was 8-for-12 from the floor, including 7-for-11 from three-point range.

"I don't know that dude,'' Martelli said of West. "He starts their first three games and then he comes off the bench and makes every shot. You got to hand it to him.''

 Notes

St. Joe's is off until Saturday afternoon at William and Mary. The next home game is Nov. 28 against Illinois-Chicago. … Despite a combined 58 years of coaching, this was the first-ever meeting between Martelli and West Virginia's Bob Huggins.