Three takeaways from KU basketball’s upset loss at West Virginia Mountaineers
In the Bill Self era, the Kansas men’s basketball team has often struggled against West Virginia at WVU Coliseum.
Despite being 10-point favorites, that trend continued on Saturday afternoon. West Virginia upset No. 3-ranked Kansas, winning 91-85 in Morgantown, West Virginia.
KU fell to 5-7 under Self at WVU Coliseum.
The game had a chaotic finish after being close throughout.
With KU down four points, 87-83, Jayhawks guard Kevin McCullar appeared to sink a corner 3-pointer with 11.9 seconds left, cutting the deficit to one. But the shot was reviewed and deemed a 2-point attempt, meaning Kansas still trailed by two.
WVU’s Noah Farrakhan sank both free throws after being fouled to stretch that margin to four. The Jayhawks had a chance to score quickly and cut into the deficit, trailing 89-85, but the Mountaineers stole the inbound pass.
WVU’s Kerr Kriisa was fouled and sank both free throws to ice the game with two seconds left.
The Jayhawks also had rebounding issues late, as West Virginia was credited with three offensive rebounds in the final minute, including one off a missed free throw when KU trailed by two.
Kansas finished with just five offensive rebounds. West Virginia won the rebounding matchup 31-22. Kevin McCullar scored 24 points and Hunter Dickinson added 19.
KU (15-3, 3-2 Big 12) saw its six-game winning streak against the Mountaineers come to an end.
Up next: Kansas will play host to Cincinnati at Allen Fieldhouse on Monday.
Until then, here are some takeaways from Saturday’s game:
West Virginia’s red-hot shooting
Heading into the game, WVU ranked No. 314 this season in 3-point percentage (30.3%).
That didn’t meet that mark Saturday. The Mountaineers were scorching-hot from deep against KU in the first half.
No matter how closely the Jayhawks contested the hosts’ shots, the Mountaineers didn’t seem to miss. WVU shot an absurd 9-for-14 (64.3%) from deep. At one point, WVU was 9-for-11 from 3-point range.
KU shot 6-for-12 from deep, making for a high-scoring first half that finished 51-all.
The Mountaineers continued their red-hot perimeter shooting in the second half, shooting 3-for-7 from 3-point range. They finished 12-for-21 (57.1%) beyond the arc.
Meanwhile, KU went ice-cold, going 1-for-11 on 3-pointers in the second half. The Jayhawks shot 7-for-23 (30.4%) for the game.
Nick Timberlake delivers his best half yet
After his impressive dunk last game against Oklahoma State — perhaps his highlight of the season and a SportsCenter Top 10 play — Timberlake talked about staying ready no matter how many minutes he was playing.
He said his goal remains “to come in every day working my butt off, hopefully taking advantage of the time I get in the game.”
Sure enough, McCullar got into early foul trouble against WVU, leading to early minutes for Timberlake.
Within two minutes of game time, Timberlake hit a 3-pointer and layup. He put together a special first half, scoring 12 points on 4-for-5 shooting from the field, his most points since 13 vs. Yale in December.
However, Timberlake didn’t score in the second half, going 0-for-2 from 3-point range and playing just four minutes.
KU shares the scoring load
The Jayhawks did a great job of making sure multiple players got involved in the scoring effort.
KU had five players (KJ Adams, Furphy, McCullar, Dickinson and Timberlake) hit double-digit points.
For Kansas, that’s a big deal.
At times this season, KU has struggled to get consistent scoring from anyone other than McCullar and Dickinson. The Jayhawks’ bench chipped in 14 points Saturday, with 12 of those coming from Timberlake.
Furphy’s emergence and Adams’ improving offensive play have made the Jayhawks more difficult to defend. The duo has raised the Jayhawks’ offensive ceiling.
Even in a loss, Kansas shot 53.3% from the field and committed just seven turnovers.
This story was originally published January 20, 2024 at 5:44 PM.
