--West Virginia had a chance for a signature win at home against Kansas and the Mountaineers simply let it slip right through their fingers. The Mountaineers led 41-32 with 13:31 to go and was outscored 26-8 down the stretch with the Mountaineers scoring only a single free throw for the final 5:58 of the game. West Virginia essentially gave this one away with eight turnovers over the final 6:56 of the game and simply couldn’t buy a basket in the half court going 0-7 from the field down the final 5:58 of the game. That just isn’t going to cut it. This team has now lost its first game at home, as well as the first time the Mountaineers have lost consecutive games all season and had all the momentum in this one before it let things slip away down the stretch. Not being able to score for stretches, missing easy baskets and some questionable lineup decisions at times led to this one getting away late and it’s one that could sting for a while. You just aren’t going to beat high level basketball teams turning the ball over 19 times and that’s what happened here.
--West Virginia came out as the aggressor in this one and the ball movement was on point but by the end of the game that role has flipped with Kansas getting to every loose ball and diving on the floor. Sustaining that is key and the Jayhawks forced the issue late in this one. This might be Self's least talented (not best, least talented) team since he's been there and they just swept the Mountaineers on the season.
--It wasn’t just turnovers either, as many of those led to fast-break opportunities with Kansas scoring 12 points in those situations compared to zero for West Virginia.
--You forget how young this team is at times, but nights like tonight you can see it. This club was beaten by a more experienced team that made plays when it mattered. That’s not sugar coating anything it’s just the case and good teams find a way to get past some of those hurdles.
--West Virginia was +11 on the glass and +11 on the offensive glass and lost this game with 15 more shots. Some of these statistics seem wild over the past two, but that’s where we’re at. The Mountaineers led this game for over 29 minutes and trailed fewer than 8 but those 8 were the minutes that really counted when things got tight down the stretch.
--West Virginia point guards had a combined 8 turnovers and ZERO assists.
--The 49 points is the lowest total this season and the smallest scoring output since the Mountaineers managed exactly that in a loss to Texas in 2016. Guard play was really bad down the stretch in this one as the Jayhawks simply locked up on the defensive end and didn’t allow anything cheap. Kansas used a 9-0 run down the stretch to ice the game and provide the final score.
--West Virginia only had 12 bench points in this ne and was actually outscored by Kansas (17). That doesn’t happen often but speaks to the struggles that the club had to put the ball in the basket. The home team was +15 in shot attempts but made 32-percent of those and was at .742 points per possession. That isn’t pretty, at all. The Mountaineers dribbled out the shot clock on themselves on most possessions and the earlier ball movement was non-existent down the stretch. Woof, woof.
--It wasn’t quite the 19 misses against Oklahoma but West Virginia made only 9-19 on layups again, some of those golden opportunities right at the rim. That can’t happen. The Jayhawks on the other hand got a lot of quality looks and 32 of their 58 total points came in the paint.
--Freshman Oscar Tshiebwe played very well tonight when he could stay on the floor with 14 points and 9 rebounds. It’s hard to remember at times that he is still a true freshman, but he is and while he’s still learning in some areas – his potential is exciting.
--Redshirt sophomore Brandon Knapper again had a nightmare performance in his three minutes on the floor. He only finished -1, but took some really bad shots that got him a quick hook. Was surprised he got the call late in the game but he did and his long three-pointer with a lot of time left in the shot clock pretty much summed up his night.
--I love junior Gabe Osabuohien’s game, I really do. But if he’s your option late in the game on the offensive end off the dribble, something is wrong.
--Sophomore Jordan McCabe scored 10 points on 4-8 shooting but the statistic he’s going to talk about the most is the 4 turnovers that he gave up. Speaks volumes about his mind set that as I sat in the Coliseum typing this up he was down here getting up shots along with Miles McBride on the other end.
--Interesting that Huggins basically used a nine-man rotation in this one with a few minutes sprinkled out to Logan Routt and as mentioned above Knapper.
--This won’t get any easier. Trust me, it won’t. West Virginia now has to go on the road at No. 1 Baylor Saturday which handled this Kansas team on its home floor earlier this year. The good news is it’s another opportunity for this club to get a chance at a win, but this young team is teetering on falling on some hard times if the losses continue to pile up down the stretch. 18-6 is nothing to sneeze at, but that No. 2 line is quickly looking more like a 4 or 5 by the day.
--West Virginia came out as the aggressor in this one and the ball movement was on point but by the end of the game that role has flipped with Kansas getting to every loose ball and diving on the floor. Sustaining that is key and the Jayhawks forced the issue late in this one. This might be Self's least talented (not best, least talented) team since he's been there and they just swept the Mountaineers on the season.
--It wasn’t just turnovers either, as many of those led to fast-break opportunities with Kansas scoring 12 points in those situations compared to zero for West Virginia.
--You forget how young this team is at times, but nights like tonight you can see it. This club was beaten by a more experienced team that made plays when it mattered. That’s not sugar coating anything it’s just the case and good teams find a way to get past some of those hurdles.
--West Virginia was +11 on the glass and +11 on the offensive glass and lost this game with 15 more shots. Some of these statistics seem wild over the past two, but that’s where we’re at. The Mountaineers led this game for over 29 minutes and trailed fewer than 8 but those 8 were the minutes that really counted when things got tight down the stretch.
--West Virginia point guards had a combined 8 turnovers and ZERO assists.
--The 49 points is the lowest total this season and the smallest scoring output since the Mountaineers managed exactly that in a loss to Texas in 2016. Guard play was really bad down the stretch in this one as the Jayhawks simply locked up on the defensive end and didn’t allow anything cheap. Kansas used a 9-0 run down the stretch to ice the game and provide the final score.
--West Virginia only had 12 bench points in this ne and was actually outscored by Kansas (17). That doesn’t happen often but speaks to the struggles that the club had to put the ball in the basket. The home team was +15 in shot attempts but made 32-percent of those and was at .742 points per possession. That isn’t pretty, at all. The Mountaineers dribbled out the shot clock on themselves on most possessions and the earlier ball movement was non-existent down the stretch. Woof, woof.
--It wasn’t quite the 19 misses against Oklahoma but West Virginia made only 9-19 on layups again, some of those golden opportunities right at the rim. That can’t happen. The Jayhawks on the other hand got a lot of quality looks and 32 of their 58 total points came in the paint.
--Freshman Oscar Tshiebwe played very well tonight when he could stay on the floor with 14 points and 9 rebounds. It’s hard to remember at times that he is still a true freshman, but he is and while he’s still learning in some areas – his potential is exciting.
--Redshirt sophomore Brandon Knapper again had a nightmare performance in his three minutes on the floor. He only finished -1, but took some really bad shots that got him a quick hook. Was surprised he got the call late in the game but he did and his long three-pointer with a lot of time left in the shot clock pretty much summed up his night.
--I love junior Gabe Osabuohien’s game, I really do. But if he’s your option late in the game on the offensive end off the dribble, something is wrong.
--Sophomore Jordan McCabe scored 10 points on 4-8 shooting but the statistic he’s going to talk about the most is the 4 turnovers that he gave up. Speaks volumes about his mind set that as I sat in the Coliseum typing this up he was down here getting up shots along with Miles McBride on the other end.
--Interesting that Huggins basically used a nine-man rotation in this one with a few minutes sprinkled out to Logan Routt and as mentioned above Knapper.
--This won’t get any easier. Trust me, it won’t. West Virginia now has to go on the road at No. 1 Baylor Saturday which handled this Kansas team on its home floor earlier this year. The good news is it’s another opportunity for this club to get a chance at a win, but this young team is teetering on falling on some hard times if the losses continue to pile up down the stretch. 18-6 is nothing to sneeze at, but that No. 2 line is quickly looking more like a 4 or 5 by the day.
