Mountain State Times

Kansas Clips West Virginia 76-74 in Lawrence

West Virginia came within a possession of getting a big road win at third-ranked Kansas, but the Jayhawks were able to keep the Mountaineers from attempting a game-winning shot during the final 20 seconds to escape with a 76-74 victory inside Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kansas.
 
Upset-minded West Virginia battled back from a seven-point deficit to reduce Kansas' lead 75-74 on Emmitt Matthews Jr.'s steal and dunk with 33 seconds left.
 
Kansas (24-5, 12-4) had an opportunity to make it a three-point game with 23 seconds left when Jalen Wilson was fouled by Matthews, but he could only get the second of his two free throw attempts to go down, keeping the door open for the Mountaineers.
 
However, West Virginia (16-13, 5-11) was unable to get a look at the basket as guard Joe Toussaint turned the ball over on WVU's final offensive possession. Kansas inbounded the ball with one second left to end the game.
 
"I thought we played really well," West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said. "We turned it over too many times and that's something we've talked about from day one that we needed to get better at, but they turned it over, too."
 
There were nine ties and 15 lead changes in a game that saw Kansas finish with five double-figure scorers, led by Dajuan Harris' 17. Wilson, the Big 12's leading scorer averaging 20.4 points per game, was held to just 11 on 4-of-9 shooting.
 
Gradey Dick and Kevin McCullar chipped in with 16 points each, while K.J. Adams Jr. scored 13.
 
Erik Stevenson led all scorers with 23 points on 9-of-22 shooting. Tre Mitchell added 20 on 8-of-12 shooting after scoring a season-high 22 points earlier this week against Oklahoma State.
 
Kedrian Johnson tallied 15 and Matthews finished with 13 for WVU.
 
West Virginia outrebounded Kansas 34 to 26, including grabbing 11 offensive rebounds in the second half, and benefitted from 19 Jayhawk turnovers to score 25 points. The Mountaineers also turned the ball over 21 times, resulting in 20 KU points.
 
Kansas' biggest lead was eight points while West Virginia's biggest lead was five points.
 
"It was a game that had good players in it, and I thought our guys really competed," Huggins said.
 
The 74 points today were the second-most the Mountaineers have ever scored in Allen Fieldhouse. WVU tallied 80 in an 84-80 overtime loss to the Jayhawks on Feb. 13, 2017.
 
West Virginia remains winless in Lawrence, falling for the 11th straight time.
 
"I'm happy we won, but we probably needed to be humbled a little bit," Kansas coach Bill Self said afterward. "We were humbled today and still won. I told our guys in the locker room after the game, 'If this was a second-round NCAA Tournament game we would have lost.' That would be an 8-9 (seeded) game, which is comparable to West Virginia, and we would be going home."
 
Today's victory gives Kansas sole possession of first place in the Big 12 standings with two regular season games left. Texas, which shared the conference lead heading into today's action, lost to Baylor earlier today.
 
West Virginia is now tied with Texas Tech for eighth place, one game ahead of 4-12 Oklahoma, which upset Iowa State in Ames.
 
"I think we've gotten better as the season has gone on. We've done some dumb things that have cost us games, but I think we're at the point now where we're really playing," Huggins said. "I look forward to these next two games, but I just hope we've got enough gas a couple of days from now."
 
The Cyclones (17-11, 8-8) will be West Virginia's next opponent on Monday night. 

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