ESPN Men's Basketball

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) -- Joe Alexander scored 20 points and Darris Nichols added 16, leading West Virginia to an 86-62 victory over UMBC on Saturday to give first-year coach Bob Huggins his 598th career win.

Huggins will go for No. 599 on Wednesday at Radford. Only five other active Division I coaches have more wins.

Da'Sean Butler added 14 points and nine rebounds for West Virginia (8-1), which leads the nation in scoring margin at 30 points per game and has won its five home games by an average of 40 points.

It was the worst loss of the season for UMBC (7-4), which had gotten off to its best start in 22 Division I seasons.

Alexander scored eight points during a 16-4 run that put West Virginia ahead 30-18 with 7:03 left in the first half.

West Virginia's largest lead was 66-39 after a Butler free throw with 11 minutes remaining in the game. UMBC (7-4) got no closer than 21 points afterward.

Brian Hodges scored 18 points for UMBC. Ray Barbosa added 14.

West Virginia shot 50 percent from the floor for the game, held a 39-24 rebounding advantage and its bench outscored UMBC's reserves 26-4.