Radford, VA -- (Sports Network) - Darris Nichols put on a show in front of his hometown crowd, and five Mountaineers scored in double figures, as 24th-ranked West Virginia torched the Radford Highlanders, 90-60.

Nichols tied for a game-high 23 points, going 7-for-10 from beyond-the-arc while recording eight assists for the Mountaineers (9-1). Alex Ruoff also poured in 23 points, including five three-pointers. Da'Sean Butler contributed 14 points, and John Flowers added 10. Joe Mazzulla was good for 10 points, five assists, and four rebounds.

"Going to Radford is for (senior guard) Darris Nichols," West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins remarked prior to the game. "I've always tried to get back to arenas where our guys have family so they can see them play. We generally try to do it where it is involved with television."

Amir Johnson and Kenny Thomas led the way for Radford (4-9), each with 16 points. Johnson had a double-double, as he also managed 11 assists. Joey Lynch-Flohr scored 12 points and grabbed five boards.

Highlanders guard Thomas scored the first five points of the evening, as Radford opened up the game on a 7-0 run, finished off with a layup by Lynch- Flohr with 16:36 to play in the half.

WVU clawed its way back into it, and finally took its first lead at 14-13 after hitting back-to-back three-pointers sandwiched around a Radford turnover, the second trey by Ruoff with 10:19 remaining.

The Highlanders, though, did not go away, as the teams battled back-and-forth until West Virginia ripped off a 15-5 run to close out the opening half. Ted Talkington nailed a three-pointer with 16 seconds left, and the Mountaineers took a 36-27 lead into the locker room.

Though Radford struck first, it was West Virginia that put the game away early in the second half. The Mountaineers capped off a 14-4 run on a Flowers jumper with 13:44 to go in the game, ballooning their lead to 21 at 56-35.

Another WVU scoring streak, this one 13-0, pushed its lead to a game-high 35 points. Butler's three-pointer ended the run, with the Mountaineers ahead 85-50 with 6:04 until the final buzzer.

The Highlanders went on a 10-0 run of their own in the final minutes, but the effort was far too little, too late. Alex Gynes sank a layup with 2:34 to play, cutting the WVU lead to 85-60.

Game Notes

This marked the first time a Big East school ever played at the 5,000-seat Dedmon Center, and it was a sellout crowd for Nichols' homecoming...WVU leads the all-time series 3-0, with the last game coming in 2004-05. The Mountaineers hold a 46-5 overall record against current Big South Conference teams...This was the first of a four-game road trip for West Virginia...Entering the contest, WVU had beaten opponents by an average margin of +29.4, with Wednesday's matchup finishing just slightly above that...The Mountaineers shot 35 three-pointers, converting 18 of them, good for 51.4 percent.