Morgantown, West Virginia has been a house of horrors for the Kansas Jayhawks ever since losing to the Mountaineers on March 8th, 2014. KU had lost 4 straight games at the WVU Coliseum, and many thought the trend would continue last night, but the Jayhawks ended all doubts.
In a game that looked like the KU had no hope, Bill Self pulled his team together to pull off a massive win on the road. The Jayhawks started the night looking as if they were going to have trouble scoring 50 against a WVU defense that would not allow any easy buckets. WVU’s Sagaba Konate had 5 blocks in the first half, with three of them coming in emphatic fashion. KU entered the locker room down 41-28 and were in need of a miracle half to pull off an upset.
Trailing by double digits in the second half, Kansas went on a 20-6 run in the final 6 minutes to escape Morgantown with a 71-66 win. Svi Mykhailiuk led all scorers with 17, but it wasn’t KU’s offensive that got them the win, it was their defense. After allowing 41 points in the first half, the Jayhawks clamped down defensively and only gave up 25 points to the Mountaineers in the second half.
West Virginia falls to 15-3 overall and 4-2 in conference. The Mountaineers will need to bounce back when they host Texas on Saturday (2:00 PM CBS).
Kansas improves to 15-3 and 5-1 in the Big 12. The Jayhawks will finish out the week by hosting Baylor on Saturday (6:00 PM ESPN). KU’s streak of 13 straight regular-season Big 12 championships is severely on the line due to the depth of the Big 12 this season, but one should never doubt Bill Self.