MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) – Bob Huggins has his first signature victory at West Virginia.

Alex Rouff hit five 3-pointers and scored 19 points to lead the Mountaineers to a 79-64 rout of No. 10 Marquette, giving Huggins his 601st career win in his first season since returning to his alma mater.

Joe Alexander added 19 points, Da'Sean Butler had 13 and Darris Nichols 12 for West Virginia, which cruised to a 10-1 start before dropping a pair of games to Oklahoma and at Notre Dame. The losses seemed to give credence to Huggins' claim that the hot start was merely “fool's gold.”

Nothing looked foolish about West Virginia's 13 straight home win, and sixth straight in Big East openers.

The Mountaineers, employing a seldom-used 1-3-1 zone defense most of the game, surprised Marquette and coach Tom Crean, who appeared to be expecting Huggins' trademark, physical man-to-man defense.

Lazar Hayward and Wesley Matthews scored 13 each to lead Marquette (11-2, 1-1), which had won seven straight since a four-point loss to No. 9 Duke in late November. But the Golden Eagles' sensation backcourt of Jerel McNeal and Dominic James was held to a combined 20 points on just 8 of-20 shooting, and 2-of-8 from beyond the arc.

Marquette coasted to a win in its conference opener, but the Golden Eagles will have to win on the road if they hope to earn their first-ever 2-0 Big East start.

The 10th-ranked Golden Eagles try for their eighth straight win Sunday when they visit a West Virginia team reeling from back-to-back losses in Bob Huggins' first Big East home game at his alma mater.

Marquette (11-1, 1-0) beat Providence 96-67 on Thursday, winning its Big East opener for the second time in its third season in the league. Last season, the Golden Eagles lost their first two conference games before rebounding to win eight straight.

“It's a great feeling to start off 1-0 in this league,” coach Tom Crean said. “Obviously any win you can get is a big win with as many teams as there are and with as many games as we're going to play in this league. So you've got to bottle it up and take it.”

ADVERTISEMENT In order to earn its first 2-0 Big East record, the Golden Eagles will have to win their first road game since an 81-76 victory at Wisconsin on Dec. 8. Marquette's only other games away from home came as part of the Maui Invitational in November.

Marquette went 4-4 in road conference games last season and 3-5 in 2005-06. The Mountaineers (10-3), meanwhile, have gone 7-1 at home in Big East games in each of the last two seasons.

However, West Virginia lost its conference opener 69-56 on Thursday at Notre Dame. That defeat came five days after a 88-82 double-overtime defeat to Oklahoma.

“I hope it's a wake-up call. I hope you can call it that,” said West Virginia forward Alex Ruoff, who leads the team with 16.2 points per game, after the loss to the Fighting Irish. “Otherwise, it'll be a long season. I'm anxious to get back to practice and get back to work. We need to do something.”

Ruoff had 18 points for West Virginia (10-3, 0-1), which shot a season-low 32 percent and scored 14 points fewer than its previous lowest total.

“We haven't shot very well all week,” Huggins said. “We had a bunch of guys making shots so we could spread the defense. We have starters that are shooting lower than 10 percent.”

Huggins, a Morgantown native and 1977 West Virginia graduate who coached at Cincinnati from 1989-2005, is in his first season at his alma mater after guiding Kansas State to an NIT berth in 2006-07 in his only season there. Both Cincinnati and Marquette were members of Conference USA from 1995-2005, and Huggins is 20-11 all-time against Marquette.

Huggins and the Mountaineers will be trying to slow down Marquette's impressive trio of guards. Dominic James, who leads the team with 15.3 points per game, had 21 against the Friars.

Jerel McNeal, who is averaging 13.4 points, had four points and nine assists despite battling the flu, and Wesley Matthews chipped in a season-high 16 points.

“Outstanding,” Crean said. “That's a very physical, competitive group of young men. Those three guards together, we've got a lot of other competitors on this team, but they certainly lead the way with so much and feed off of each other.”

Center Ousmane Barro had his best offensive game of the season with 14 points and nine rebounds. Marquette's 96 points was its most ever in a Big East game.

The teams have split two Big East meetings, with Marquette winning 81-63 last season at home as James scored 21 points.

1st Half Summary
TIME	MARQUETTE	SCORE	WEST VIRGINIA
19:42	 	0-0	Darris Nichols missed Three Point Jumper.
19:42	Jerel McNeal Defensive Rebound.	0-0	 
19:34	Foul on Lazar Hayward	0-0	 
19:20	 	0-0	Alex Ruoff missed Three Point Jumper.
19:20	Marquette Defensive Rebound.	0-0	 
18:48	Lazar Hayward missed Three Point Jumper.	0-0	 
18:48	Marquette Offensive Rebound.	0-0	 
18:14	 	0-0	Da'Sean Butler missed Two Point Layup.
18:14	 	0-0	West Virginia Offensive Rebound.
18:04	Foul on Lazar Hayward	0-0	 
17:57	 	0-2	Da'Sean Butler made Two Point Layup.
17:41	 	0-2	Foul on Da'Sean Butler
17:30	Foul on Jerel McNeal	0-2	 
17:13	 	0-2	Joe Alexander missed Two Point Jumper.
17:13	Wesley Matthews Defensive Rebound.	0-2	 
16:52	Foul on Dan Fitzgerald	0-2	 
16:51	 	0-2	Jamie Smalligan missed Three Point Jumper.
16:44	 	0-2	Da'Sean Butler Offensive Rebound.
16:44	 	0-5	Da'Sean Butler made Three Point Jumper.
16:34	Dominic James made Two Point Jumper.	2-5	 
16:16	 	2-8	Alex Ruoff made Three Point Jumper.
16:04	Wesley Matthews made Two Point Jumper.	4-8	 
15:48	 	4-11	Da'Sean Butler made Three Point Jumper.
15:39	Dwight Burke made Two Point Layup.	6-11	 
15:39	 	6-11	Foul on Jamie Smalligan
15:39	Official TV Timeout.	6-11	 
15:39	Dwight Burke made Free Throw.	7-11	 
15:19	 	7-13	Joe Alexander made Two Point Dunk Shot.
14:10	Ousmane Barro made Two Point Layup.	9-13	 
13:50	 	9-16	Darris Nichols made Three Point Jumper.
13:22	Dominic James missed Two Point Jumper.	9-16	 
13:22	 	9-16	Wellington Smith Defensive Rebound.
13:05	 	9-16	John Flowers missed Two Point Jumper.
13:05	 	9-16	Wellington Smith Offensive Rebound.
12:29	 	9-16	John Flowers missed Two Point Layup.
12:29	 	9-16	Wellington Smith Defensive Rebound.
12:10	Jerel McNeal made Two Point Jumper.	11-16	 
11:41	 	11-16	Joe Alexander missed Three Point Jumper.
11:41	David Cubillan Defensive Rebound.	11-16	 
11:21	Official TV Timeout.	11-16	 
11:00	Foul on Wesley Matthews	11-16	 
11:00	 	11-17	Joe Alexander made Free Throw.
11:00	 	11-18	Joe Alexander made Free Throw.
10:31	Foul on Wesley Matthews	11-18	 
10:31	Marquette Full Timeout.
10:15	 	11-18	Da'Sean Butler missed Two Point Layup.
10:15	Ousmane Barro Defensive Rebound.	11-18	 
9:50	 	11-21	Da'Sean Butler made Three Point Jumper.
9:35	Maurice Acker missed Three Point Jumper.	11-21	 
9:35	Ousmane Barro Offensive Rebound.	11-21	 
9:22	 	11-21	Foul on Joe Mazzulla
9:12	 	11-21	Joe Alexander missed Two Point Layup.
9:12	Ousmane Barro Defensive Rebound.	11-21	 
9:03	Lazar Hayward made Three Point Jumper.	14-21	 
8:43	 	14-21	Joe Alexander missed Two Point Jumper.
8:43	Ousmane Barro Defensive Rebound.	14-21	 
8:39	 	14-21	Foul on Da'Sean Butler
8:26	Dominic James made Three Point Jumper.	17-21	 
7:59	Foul on Maurice Acker	17-21	 
7:59	 	17-21	Official TV Timeout.
7:59	 	17-21	Joe Mazzulla missed Free Throw.
7:54	 	17-21	Joe Alexander missed Two Point Jumper.
7:54	Ousmane Barro Defensive Rebound.	17-21	 
7:29	Lazar Hayward missed Three Point Jumper.	17-21	 
7:29	 	17-21	Joe Mazzulla Defensive Rebound.
7:28	Foul on Jerel McNeal	17-21	 
7:28	 	17-21	Joe Mazzulla missed Free Throw.
7:28	Lazar Hayward Defensive Rebound.	17-21	 
7:22	Jerel McNeal missed Three Point Jumper.	17-21	 
7:22	Wesley Matthews Offensive Rebound.	17-21	 
7:17	Wesley Matthews made Two Point Layup.	19-21	 
7:05	 	19-21	Darris Nichols missed Two Point Layup.
7:05	 	19-21	Alex Ruoff Offensive Rebound.
6:53	 	19-21	Alex Ruoff missed Three Point Jumper.
6:53	Lazar Hayward Defensive Rebound.	19-21	 
6:41	Wesley Matthews missed Three Point Jumper.	19-21	 
6:41	 	19-21	Joe Mazzulla Defensive Rebound.
6:21	 	19-21	Foul on Joe Alexander
6:05	Wesley Matthews missed Two Point Jumper.	19-21	 
6:05	Marquette Offensive Rebound.	19-21	 
5:35	 	19-21	Foul on Wellington Smith
5:35	Wesley Matthews made Free Throw.	20-21	 
5:35	Wesley Matthews made Free Throw.	21-21	 
5:25	 	21-21	Darris Nichols missed Two Point Jumper.
5:25	 	21-21	Alex Ruoff Offensive Rebound.
5:22	 	21-21	Alex Ruoff missed Two Point Layup.
5:18	 	21-21	Wellington Smith Offensive Rebound.
5:01	 	21-21	John Flowers missed Two Point Jumper.
5:01	Marquette Defensive Rebound.	21-21	 
4:31	Wesley Matthews missed Three Point Jumper.	21-21	 
4:31	Lazar Hayward Offensive Rebound.	21-21	 
4:27	 	21-21	Foul on Darris Nichols
4:27	Lazar Hayward made Free Throw.	22-21	 
4:27	Lazar Hayward made Free Throw.	23-21	 
4:09	Foul on Dwight Burke	23-21	 
4:09	 	23-22	Darris Nichols made Free Throw.
4:09	 	23-23	Darris Nichols made Free Throw.
3:55	Lazar Hayward missed Two Point Layup.	23-23	 
3:55	 	23-23	Da'Sean Butler Defensive Rebound.
3:33	Foul on Lazar Hayward	23-23	 
3:33	 	23-23	Official TV Timeout.
3:33	 	23-24	John Flowers made Free Throw.
3:33	 	23-24	John Flowers missed Free Throw.
3:33	Dwight Burke Defensive Rebound.	23-24	 
3:00	Dan Fitzgerald missed Two Point Jumper.	23-24	 
3:00	 	23-24	Joe Alexander Defensive Rebound.
2:51	 	23-24	Darris Nichols missed Two Point Jumper.
2:51	 	23-24	Darris Nichols Offensive Rebound.
2:38	 	23-26	Joe Alexander made Two Point Layup.
2:34	Foul on Dwight Burke	23-26	 
2:34	 	23-27	Joe Alexander made Free Throw.
2:14	Dominic James made Three Point Jumper.	26-27	 
1:51	 	26-27	John Flowers missed Two Point Jumper.
1:51	Ousmane Barro Defensive Rebound.	26-27	 
1:38	Dominic James missed Three Point Jumper.	26-27	 
1:38	Jerel McNeal Offensive Rebound.	26-27	 
1:35	Jerel McNeal missed Two Point Layup.	26-27	 
1:35	David Cubillan Offensive Rebound.	26-27	 
1:27	David Cubillan made Two Point Jumper.	28-27	 
1:12	 	28-29	Joe Mazzulla made Two Point Layup.
0:27	Maurice Acker missed Three Point Jumper.	28-29	 
0:27	Marquette Offensive Rebound.	28-29	 
0:04	David Cubillan missed Three Point Jumper.	28-29	 
0:04	Dan Fitzgerald Offensive Rebound.	28-29	 
0:04	Dan Fitzgerald missed Two Point Layup.	28-29	 
0:04	 	28-29	Da'Sean Butler Offensive Rebound.
0:00	End of the 1st Half.
1 | 2 | All
2nd Half Summary
TIME	MARQUETTE	SCORE	WEST VIRGINIA
19:51	Jerel McNeal missed Two Point Layup.	28-29	 
19:51	 	28-29	Alex Ruoff Defensive Rebound.
19:25	 	28-31	Da'Sean Butler made Two Point Jumper.
19:08	David Cubillan missed Three Point Jumper.	28-31	 
19:08	 	28-31	West Virginia Defensive Rebound.
18:58	Foul on Dominic James	28-31	 
18:42	 	28-33	Joe Alexander made Two Point Jumper.
18:19	Foul on Wesley Matthews	28-33	 
18:07	 	28-36	Alex Ruoff made Three Point Jumper.
18:05	Marquette Full Timeout.
17:54	Jerel McNeal made Two Point Layup.	30-36	 
17:44	 	30-36	Jamie Smalligan missed Three Point Jumper.
17:44	Lazar Hayward Defensive Rebound.	30-36	 
17:31	Ousmane Barro made Two Point Dunk Shot.	32-36	 
17:16	West Virginia Full Timeout.
16:50	 	32-36	Alex Ruoff missed Two Point Jumper.
16:50	Jerel McNeal Defensive Rebound.	32-36	 
16:40	 	32-36	Foul on Wellington Smith
16:40	Jerel McNeal made Free Throw.	33-36	 
16:40	Jerel McNeal made Free Throw.	34-36	 
16:26	Jerel McNeal made Two Point Layup.	36-36	 
16:16	 	36-38	Joe Alexander made Two Point Jumper.
16:07	Ousmane Barro made Two Point Layup.	38-38	 
15:55	 	38-40	Joe Alexander made Two Point Dunk Shot.
15:35	David Cubillan made Three Point Jumper.	41-40	 
14:58	 	41-40	Foul on Wellington Smith
14:58	Official TV Timeout.	41-40	 
14:58	Lazar Hayward made Free Throw.	42-40	 
14:58	Lazar Hayward made Free Throw.	43-40	 
14:37	Foul on Jerel McNeal	43-40	 
14:09	Jerel McNeal missed Three Point Jumper.	43-40	 
14:09	 	43-40	Joe Mazzulla Defensive Rebound.
13:58	 	43-40	John Flowers missed Three Point Jumper.
13:58	 	43-40	Wellington Smith Offensive Rebound.
13:53	 	43-42	Wellington Smith made Two Point Layup.
13:24	 	43-42	Foul on John Flowers
13:24	Ousmane Barro missed Free Throw.	43-42	 
13:24	Ousmane Barro missed Free Throw.	43-42	 
13:24	 	43-42	John Flowers Defensive Rebound.
13:01	 	43-44	John Flowers made Two Point Jumper.
13:01	Foul on Ousmane Barro	43-44	 
13:01	 	43-45	John Flowers made Free Throw.
12:52	Ousmane Barro missed Two Point Jumper.	43-45	 
12:52	 	43-45	John Flowers Defensive Rebound.
12:41	 	43-47	Joe Mazzulla made Two Point Layup.
12:25	Lazar Hayward made Three Point Jumper.	46-47	 
12:01	 	46-49	Joe Alexander made Two Point Jumper.
11:34	Lazar Hayward missed Three Point Jumper.	46-49	 
11:32	 	46-49	Official TV Timeout.
11:10	 	46-51	Darris Nichols made Two Point Layup.
10:52	Lazar Hayward missed Two Point Layup.	46-51	 
10:52	 	46-51	Joe Alexander Defensive Rebound.
10:26	 	46-51	Joe Alexander missed Two Point Jumper.
10:26	 	46-51	John Flowers Offensive Rebound.
10:23	Foul on Lazar Hayward	46-51	 
10:20	Foul on Dwight Burke	46-51	 
10:11	 	46-51	Da'Sean Butler missed Three Point Jumper.
10:11	Dwight Burke Defensive Rebound.	46-51	 
9:41	Jerel McNeal made Two Point Layup.	48-51	 
9:15	 	48-51	Foul on Da'Sean Butler
8:49	Foul on Maurice Acker	48-51	 
8:49	 	48-51	Wellington Smith missed Free Throw.
8:49	Dwight Burke Defensive Rebound.	48-51	 
8:35	Wesley Matthews missed Three Point Jumper.	48-51	 
8:35	 	48-51	Da'Sean Butler Defensive Rebound.
8:31	Foul on Dan Fitzgerald	48-51	 
8:31	 	48-51	Da'Sean Butler missed Free Throw.
8:31	 	48-51	West Virginia Offensive Rebound.
8:29	 	48-53	Joe Alexander made Two Point Layup.
7:59	 	48-53	Foul on Da'Sean Butler
7:59	Official TV Timeout.	48-53	 
7:45	 	48-53	Foul on Joe Mazzulla
7:28	 	48-53	Foul on Joe Mazzulla
7:28	Maurice Acker made Free Throw.	49-53	 
7:28	Maurice Acker made Free Throw.	50-53	 
7:19	Foul on Jerel McNeal	50-53	 
7:19	 	50-53	Joe Mazzulla missed Free Throw.
7:19	 	50-53	Joe Mazzulla Offensive Rebound.
7:12	 	50-53	Joe Alexander missed Three Point Jumper.
7:12	Ousmane Barro Defensive Rebound.	50-53	 
6:52	Dominic James missed Two Point Jumper.	50-53	 
6:52	 	50-53	Darris Nichols Defensive Rebound.
6:28	 	50-56	Alex Ruoff made Three Point Jumper.
6:04	Lawrence Blackledge missed Two Point Layup.	50-56	 
6:04	 	50-56	Joe Mazzulla Defensive Rebound.
5:49	West Virginia Full Timeout.
5:09	Dominic James missed Three Point Jumper.	50-56	 
5:09	 	50-56	Darris Nichols Defensive Rebound.
4:53	 	50-58	John Flowers made Two Point Layup.
4:41	Lazar Hayward made Three Point Jumper.	53-58	 
4:25	 	53-61	Alex Ruoff made Three Point Jumper.
4:03	Foul on Lazar Hayward	53-61	 
3:58	Foul on David Cubillan	53-61	 
3:58	 	53-61	Official TV Timeout.
3:58	 	53-62	Joe Mazzulla made Free Throw.
3:58	 	53-63	Joe Mazzulla made Free Throw.
3:43	 	53-63	Foul on Joe Alexander
3:43	Wesley Matthews missed Free Throw.	53-63	 
3:43	Wesley Matthews made Free Throw.	54-63	 
3:12	 	54-63	Joe Alexander missed Three Point Jumper.
3:12	 	54-63	West Virginia Offensive Rebound.
3:01	 	54-66	Alex Ruoff made Three Point Jumper.
2:44	Dominic James missed Two Point Layup.	54-66	 
2:44	 	54-66	Wellington Smith Defensive Rebound.
2:15	 	54-66	Foul on Joe Alexander
2:06	Dan Fitzgerald made Two Point Layup.	56-66	 
1:51	Foul on David Cubillan	56-66	 
1:51	 	56-66	Darris Nichols missed Free Throw.
1:51	 	56-67	Darris Nichols made Free Throw.
1:42	David Cubillan missed Three Point Jumper.	56-67	 
1:42	 	56-67	Joe Alexander Defensive Rebound.
1:31	Foul on David Cubillan	56-67	 
1:31	 	56-68	Darris Nichols made Free Throw.
1:31	 	56-69	Darris Nichols made Free Throw.
1:19	David Cubillan missed Three Point Jumper.	56-69	 
1:19	 	56-69	Joe Mazzulla Defensive Rebound.
1:09	Foul on Jerel McNeal	56-69	 
1:09	 	56-70	Darris Nichols made Free Throw.
1:09	 	56-71	Darris Nichols made Free Throw.
1:04	Dominic James missed Three Point Jumper.	56-71	 
1:04	 	56-71	West Virginia Defensive Rebound.
1:00	Foul on David Cubillan	56-71	 
1:00	 	56-72	Alex Ruoff made Free Throw.
1:00	 	56-73	Alex Ruoff made Free Throw.
0:54	Wesley Matthews made Three Point Jumper.	59-73	 
0:52	Marquette Full Timeout.
0:50	Foul on Dominic James	59-73	 
0:50	 	59-74	Joe Alexander made Free Throw.
0:50	 	59-75	Joe Alexander made Free Throw.
0:41	Wesley Matthews made Three Point Jumper.	62-75	 
0:38	Foul on Dominic James	62-75	 
0:38	 	62-76	Joe Mazzulla made Free Throw.
0:38	 	62-77	Joe Mazzulla made Free Throw.
0:34	Dominic James made Two Point Layup.	64-77	 
0:31	Foul on Scott Christopherson	64-77	 
0:31	 	64-78	Alex Ruoff made Free Throw.
0:31	 	64-79	Alex Ruoff made Free Throw.
0:26	Dominic James missed Two Point Jumper.	64-79	 
0:26	 	64-79	Joe Alexander Defensive Rebound.
0:09	 	64-79	Da'Sean Butler Defensive Rebound.
0:09	Dominic James missed Three Point Jumper.	64-79	 
0:00	End Game