The last time Virginia-Wise went on the road to play the University of Charleston, the Cavaliers shocked the Golden Eagles for their only conference win last season.
UC certainly remembered, and made sure things were much different this time around as the Golden Eagles easily dispatched of the Cavaliers 78-58 for a Mountain East Conference basketball win Tuesday evening at the Charleston Catholic Athletic Complex.
Jevonte Hughes tied a career high with 21 points, including 19 in the first half for UC 11-7 overall, 8-4 MEC).
"That game last year was definitely on our minds coming into the game and we wanted to make sure that didn't happen again," Hughes said. "We were focused. It was real big to get off to a good start and off on the right foot."
Golden Eagles coach Dwaine Osborne said last year's difficult 77-75 loss to Wise at Eddie King Gymnasium on UC's campus was a big point of emphasis going into Tuesday's game.
"We have quite a few guys that weren't here last year but we did talk about the fact that you have to play every game," Osborne said. "Just because a team only has a few wins doesn't mean they can't upset you.
"Mature teams don't allow that stuff to happen. It was about doing our job and handling our business regardless of who you are playing against."
Wise (3-15, 1-11) was no match for UC from the get-go as the Golden Eagles jumped out to a 16-4 lead behind a strong effort from Hughes. He scored 13 of UC's 16 points during the run, including an alley-oop slam dunk from Cameron Dozier with 14:38 left in the first half that electrified the crowd.
Later in the first half, Hughes still had half of the Golden Eagles' points, scoring 19 as UC led 38-22 with 3:52 left before halftime. He later added a second alley-oop dunk.
Osborne was proud of the effort from Hughes, who was 9 for 14 from the floor en route to his 21 points. He also grabbed six rebounds.
"Jevonte played really well," Osborne said. "He has the ability to do that and we really need him to play like he is capable of if we are going to win like we want to down the stretch. He and Justin [Coleman] both give us great energy because of their athleticism."
Hughes was happy with his play, and took a different approach to the game.
"It's good to get a career high," Hughes said. "I was due for one of those games. It is always fun getting the crowd and us hyped up with the alley-oops. I just let the game come to me. Usually I'm in a rush. I've been trying to slow down a lot."
The Golden Eagles were in control, leading 46-29 at halftime, but Wise came out strong in the second half, scoring the first nine points to cut the deficit all the way down to just eight points.
The Cavaliers cut the deficit to six at 48-42 just a few minutes later on a Matt Day jumper but got no closer as an 8-0 run for UC slammed the door on a possible comeback.
Day led Wise with a game-high 25 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Dimitri Sousa added 14 points and Ricardo Hill 11 for the Cavaliers.
Aleksander Kesic scored 15 points for UC and Coleman recorded a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Tino diTrapano also tallied 11 points for the Golden Eagles.