West Virginia’s start on Friday was shaky. After not playing a game for a week, the Mountaineers hosted Georgetown and the rust showed early.

However, the Mountaineers finally settled in and went on a 16-0 run in the second half to give them a 73-60 win at WVU Coliseum.

WVU took an early 7-3 lead against the Hoyas, but that wouldn’t last long as Georgetown jumped out to a 9-0 lead and took a 14-9 lead with 12:37 left in the first half. West Virginia struggled to find a rhythm on offense as Javon Small was the Mountaineers’ only reliable option on offense.

Small scored 13 points in the first half as WVU battled throughout the half but trailed 30-28 at halftime. Without Small’s contributions, the Mountaineers shot 33 percent from the field and were 3-for-11 from three in the first 20 minutes.

At the start of the second half, there was an increased effort from West Virginia’s defense, but it couldn’t be converted into points.

West Virginia didn’t record a basket until the 15:58 mark of the second half and cut Georgetown’s lead to one point on a three-pointer by Toby Okani. Tucker DeVries would then hit a 3-pointer to tie the game at 36-36.

Georgetown led by four minutes with 14:04 to play before the Mountaineers finally managed to get their offense and defense together.

West Virginia would go on a 16-0 run from the 13:04 mark to the 8:34 mark of the second half. The Mountaineers made two 3-pointers during the run to help them take a 55-43 lead.

That wouldn’t deter Georgetown, however, as they responded with a 7-0 run, cutting WVU’s lead to 55-50 with 5:18 left in the game.

The Mountaineers would score four straight points before the Hoyas hit a big three-pointer. WVU then turned to DeVries, who knocked down a 3-pointer, and then Sencire Harris made a layup to put West Virginia ahead by 11 with 2:32 to play.

Georgetown responded with a 3-pointer, but West Virginia scored when it needed to.

Small hit a 3-pointer before Okani dunked after a steal from Harris, sending Mountaineer fans into a frenzy.

Small finished the game with 26 points, the fourth time this season he scored 23 or more points. WVU shot 46 percent from the field and made 34.6 percent of its three-point shots.

Georgetown shot 38 percent from the field and made as many 3-pointers as the Mountaineers, but turned the ball over 14 times, leading to 19 points for WVU.