CHARLESTON - West Virginia University first-year starter Casey Mitchell has played in a lot of venues during his high school and junior college days.

So playing a home game somewhere other than in Morgantown is nothing new for the Georgia native.

"I liked it (the Charleston Civic Center)," explained Mitchell. "I played at a high school where we would play against one of our biggest rivals in a facility just like this one."

Mitchell, the 2009 National Junior College Athletic Association's Player of the Year, made the most of his first trip to the Mountain State's capital city, scoring 10 points to help the No. 8 ranked Mountaineers to a 69-50 win over The Citadel.

"When Deniz (Kilicli) came in the first thing he had to learn was to speak English," head coach Bob Huggins explained. "The first thing Casey (Mitchell) had to learn was to play defense.

"He's getting there. It's a lot more work than shooting balls."

Mitchell was one of four players to score in double figures for WVU, who embarks for Anaheim, Calif., to take part in the 76 Classic. Junior forward John Flowers came off the bench to lead the way with 13 points while sophomore Kevin Jones chipped in 11 and Darryl 'Truck' Bryant joined Mitchell with 10.

The victory upped the Mountaineers' mark to 2-0 heading into a Thursday afternoon showdown with Long Beach State in an opening round game of the four-day tournament.

A victory there and the old gold and blue will advance to take on the winner of the Texas A&M and Clemson contest on Friday.

"It (the tournament) is something that we have been looking forward to," said Mitchell. "Nothing against the teams we have played, but we need some tougher competition to make us play better."

Something the Mountaineers did at times during their 19-point win on Tuesday.

After a Joe Wolfinger trey gave the Bulldogs a 3-2 lead at the 19:06 mark, West Virginia ran off the next eight points to take the lead for good, 10-3.

A pair of buckets by The Citadel's Cameron Wells, who led all scorers with 19 points, sliced the margin with 15 minutes remaining until the intermission.

However, Mitchell's first bucket at the Civic Center ignited an 11-0 spurt by WVU and its lead never dropped below nine points the rest of the game.

"Right now, we just need to play more together," continued Mitchell. "This was only my second game with them and we still are working at getting that chemistry that we need down."

One player who has been with the team, but was also seeing his first action of the new season was junior Joe Mazzulla.

"I could tell that I still don't have my legs back," said Mazzulla, who missed the Mountaineers season-opener with a shoulder injury and is still working his way back into playing shape. "I felt OK, but I know I still have a long way to go before I am back to where I was last year."

Another player who missed WVU's first game of the season - sophomore Devin Ebanks - was dressed and on the bench, but did not play.

"He (Ebanks) will make the trip with us," said Huggins. "Whether he plays or not, well, he hasn't practiced."

WVU returns to the Coliseum to take on Duquesne in a non-conference matchup on Dec. 9.