MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- Until Big 12 Conference play opens Dec. 30, the most difficult task facing No. 15 West Virginia may be keeping its focus.Opening a five-game stretch against outmanned mid-majors, the Mountaineers (7-1) buried Western Carolina 90-37 on Wednesday night. Theres likely more carnage expected Saturday when they host another lightly regarded SoCon opponent in VMI (1-6).While the competition doesnt look stiff, the next three weeks will be developmentally important for a roster trying to get six freshmen oriented.Were trying to work on team things, stuff for ourselves, forward Elijah Macon said. Running plays right, guarding right, keeping people off the foul line.Esa Ahmad (12.8 points, 5.3 rebounds) leads a balanced assault along with versatile forward Nathan Adrian (11.6 points, 6.5 rebounds, 4.1 assists). The backcourt tandem of Jevon Carter (9.8 points, 3.4 steals) and Tarik Philip (8.3 points, 2.4 assists) is among the grittiest in Division I, and Daxter Miles (7.2 points, 2.0 assists) is still finding his legs after being sidelined for the first three games by a reported illness.Reserve guard Teyvon Myers (9.5 points) has made 63 percent of his 3-point attempts, finding the stroke that made him the nations junior college scoring champion two seasons ago. Deploying a 12-man rotation, West Virginia has topped the 100-point mark three times this season without a player scoring 20 points in a game.Just shows you how deep our team is, Ahmad said. Thats pretty amazing.While West Virginia ranks No. 6 nationally at 90.5 points per game, much of that scoring occurs via transition baskets created by its full-court press. Half-court offense has looked clunky as Bob Huggins sought to gain experience for first-year players.Weve got to score the ball, Macon said. There was a stretch toward the end of the (Western Carolina) game where we didnt score for like five minutes. Weve got to run our offense right. We cant have guys out there not knowing whats going on.VMI, which is paced by guards QJ Peterson (20.6 points, 7 rebounds) and Julian Elby (13.0 points), got its lone win came against Division III member Southern Virginia nearly a month ago. The string of five consecutive losses that followed culminated in an 86-68 setback to Gardner-Webb.They dominated us in points in the paint which was a variety of things -- post-ups, just driving down the lane -- and unfortunately, our defense wasnt tough enough, Keydets second-year coach Dan Earl said.We have to look in the mirror and be a tougher team. We have to figure that out. We showed some fight, but we had something like seven turnovers the first eight minutes of the game.VMIs sloppiness could portend huge trouble against West Virginia, which forces 26 turnovers per game, tops in the country. The Mountaineers also rank top-40 in field-goal defense, holding opponents to 38-percent shooting overall.Its hard for them just because we dont let people run offense, Huggins said. And I think everybody is to the point where they see other people turn it over and you dont want to turn it over. You want to take care of the ball, so the best thing to do is to throw it backwards, and its hard to run offense when you are constantly throwing the ball backwards.After VMI, the Mountaineers host UMKC, Redford and Northern Kentucky. They are building toward an end-of-the-month league opener against vastly improved Oklahoma State.Coming up Dec. 30, Macon said, were going to need everybody all-in. David Peralta Jersey . Two pressure cooker bombs exploded near the finish line of the April 15 race in an area packed with fans cheering the passing runners. Three people were killed and more than 260 injured, including at least 16 who lost limbs. 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RIO DE JANEIRO -- Michael Phelps is used to being in a league of his own.So it was strange to see him crowding onto a medal stand with two other swimmers Friday night.Phelps rallied from sixth overall at the turn to lock up a silver medal in the mens 100-meter butterfly, but the winningest Olympian of all time finished in a three-way tie for the medal with Chad le Clos and László Cseh.Meanwhile, Joseph Schooling of Singapore shocked the field by winning gold in Olympic-record time (50.39 seconds). It was the countrys first gold medal in any sport.Schooling, who also swims at the University of Texas, built a big lead on the opening lap and easily held off the hard-charging Phelps.Schooling -- almost exactly a decade younger than the 31-year-old American -- wouldnt let Phelps pull off one of his patented comebacks on the return lap. The time for the three silver-medal winners was 51.14.Phelps quickly swam over to congratulate Schooling, who seemed stunned by what he had done.Joe is tough. Hats off to him, he swam a great race. Its kind of special and a decent way to finish my last individual race, Phelps said.It hasnt really sunk in yet, Schooling said. Im sorry if I dont seem like Im full of emotions right now. I dont know what to believe, like, whether I actually did it or Im still preparing for my race.Schooling was equally complimentary of Phelps.[Phelps] is a guy that will go down in our history books as the greatest of all time of any sport. Im just honored and glad to have that moment and that privilege to race alongside Michael and Chad and all those guys, Schooling said.The three-way tie for the silvver medal is the first three-way tie for any medal in Olympic swimming history, according to ESPN Stats & Information.ddddddddddddA three-way tie is pretty wild, Phelps said.Phelps now has won five medals over his week in Rio: Friday nights silver and four golds. His career total in the Olympics now stands at 27 medals.The Baltimore native will close out these Olympics in the 4x100 medley relay Saturday, in which hell have a shot for his 23rd gold medal.Earlier Friday, fellow American swimmer Ryan Lochte said he believed Phelps would compete in the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, which Phelps politely contradicted after the 100 butterfly.I am not gonna be competing in four years, Phelps said.Later Friday, 16 years after winning his first individual gold medal at the Olympics, Anthony Ervin picked up his second with a furious dash from one end of the pool to the other.Completing a remarkable journey in the blink of an eye, the oldest member of the U.S. swimming team touched first in the 50-meter freestyle, edging the defending Olympic champion, Florent Manaudou of France, by a mere hundredth of a second.Another American, Nathan Adrian, took the bronze.The 35-year-old Ervin won his first gold at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, tying teammate Gary Hall Jr. for the top spot. He skipped the next two Olympics only to return for the 2012 London Games, but he failed to medal there.Now, improbably, hes back on top of the podium again.Information from The Associated Press was used in this report. ' ' '