MORGANTOWN - When Kevin Jones looks around him, he sees pretty much the same thing everyone else does when looking at West Virginia's basketball team: a roster full of talent and a lot of people who can put the ball in the basket.

"We've got a lot of scorers, a lot of guys who can put the ball in the basket,'' Jones said.

Indeed, with guys like Da'Sean Butler, Devin Ebanks and now shooting guard Casey Mitchell taking aim at the basket, the Mountaineers can score in a lot of different ways.

So what's up with Jones leading West Virginia in scoring every time this team has played in front of the public? He led all scorers in a public intrasquad scrimmage a week ago and then on Sunday had a double-double in WVU's 104-82 exhibition romp over Mountain State University at the Coliseum.

Well, the truth is, no matter how many scorers the Mountaineers have, all of their shots aren't going to go in. And that's where Jones comes in. He's a 6-foot-8, 250-pound garbage truck.

In just 20 minutes against Mountain State on Sunday afternoon, Jones scored 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, four of them on the offensive end. More often than not he converted those offensive rebounds into points, which makes West Virginia's scorers even more potent than they already are.

Imagine, even when Ebanks or Butler or Mitchell or anyone else misses, if Jones is around the ball still has a chance to go in the basket.

"That's always been something I've been pretty good at,'' Jones said.

Now, though, Jones is even better at it. In the time between his freshman and sophomore seasons, Jones managed to put on 35 pounds, almost all of it muscle. Instead of being the relatively skinny freshman he was a year ago with a knack for playing around the basket, now he's a 250-pound beast with the same knack and a body to go with it.

"He's got a good pair of hands and he's 35 pounds heavier and doesn't get knocked around,'' West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said. "He takes up space and does a good job.''

MORGANTOWN - When Kevin Jones looks around him, he sees pretty much the same thing everyone else does when looking at West Virginia's basketball team: a roster full of talent and a lot of people who can put the ball in the basket.

"We've got a lot of scorers, a lot of guys who can put the ball in the basket,'' Jones said.

Indeed, with guys like Da'Sean Butler, Devin Ebanks and now shooting guard Casey Mitchell taking aim at the basket, the Mountaineers can score in a lot of different ways.

So what's up with Jones leading West Virginia in scoring every time this team has played in front of the public? He led all scorers in a public intrasquad scrimmage a week ago and then on Sunday had a double-double in WVU's 104-82 exhibition romp over Mountain State University at the Coliseum.

Well, the truth is, no matter how many scorers the Mountaineers have, all of their shots aren't going to go in. And that's where Jones comes in. He's a 6-foot-8, 250-pound garbage truck.

In just 20 minutes against Mountain State on Sunday afternoon, Jones scored 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, four of them on the offensive end. More often than not he converted those offensive rebounds into points, which makes West Virginia's scorers even more potent than they already are.

Imagine, even when Ebanks or Butler or Mitchell or anyone else misses, if Jones is around the ball still has a chance to go in the basket.

"That's always been something I've been pretty good at,'' Jones said.

Now, though, Jones is even better at it. In the time between his freshman and sophomore seasons, Jones managed to put on 35 pounds, almost all of it muscle. Instead of being the relatively skinny freshman he was a year ago with a knack for playing around the basket, now he's a 250-pound beast with the same knack and a body to go with it.

"He's got a good pair of hands and he's 35 pounds heavier and doesn't get knocked around,'' West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said. "He takes up space and does a good job.''

Jones is never likely to be confused with being flashy. That's best left up to the other scorers on West Virginia's roster.

Mitchell, for instance, made his debut with 19 points in 22 minutes. The junior college transfer was the only newcomer in WVU's starting five.

Ebanks chipped in with his own double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds and also had four steals. Butler wasn't close to the 38 points he scored against this team a year ago, but in addition to his 10 on Sunday he was also agonizingly close to a triple-double with nine rebounds and nine assists in 29 minutes.

And then there was Jones, who didn't start but made eight of 10 field goals and didn't turn the ball over. To hear Huggins, even his two big performances in play-around games might not earn him a spot in the starting lineup.

That doesn't mean he isn't one of the team's five best players, though.

"I very rarely start my five best guys,'' Huggins said, noting that he always wants to have a big hitter or a game-changer coming off the bench if he can.

BRIEFLY: Freshman Deniz Kilicli played extensively (19 minutes) and finished with eight points, six rebounds, two assists, two blocks and a steal. It will be his last action until an exhibition game against the University of Charleston in a month, though, because of his 20-game suspension by the NCAA.

Reach Dave Hickman at 304-348-1734 or dphickm...@aol.com.