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01-16-2018, 09:43 AM
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Svi Mykhailiuk scored 17 points and Devonte Graham added 16 to power 10th-ranked Kansas to a 71-66 come-from-behind victory over sixth-ranked West Virginia here at the WVU Coliseum tonight.
For the second game in a row, West Virginia couldn't hang on to a double-digit lead in the second half. On Saturday, the Mountaineers led Texas Tech 38-31 at halftime and had the Red Raiders on the ropes down 11 with 13 minutes to go. The Red Raiders stormed back to win that one 72-71.
Tonight, the Mountaineers had a double-figure margin with eight minutes remaining before hitting a lull that saw their nine-point lead evaporate to one in a matter of just a 60 seconds of game time.
An Esa Ahmad two-point jumper, later changed to a three, gave the Mountaineers a 60-51 lead with 5:54 remaining. Then Mykhailiuk was left alone for a 3, his second in a row, a missed Ahmad 3 led to a pair of Malik Newman free throws and then an Ahmad turnover resulted in a Graham 3 to make it a one point game, 60-59.
Two Mykhailiuk free throws gave Kansas its first lead since the 14:53 mark of the first half, and then a Graham layup made it a three-point margin with 3:17 left.
Back-to-back baskets by Ahmad and Jevon Carter briefly put the Mountaineers back ahead, 65-64, but Mykhailiuk answered with another basket 18 seconds later.
When Carter couldn't get another jumper to go down, Mykhailiuk grabbed the rebound and was fouled by Wesley Harris. Two more Mykhailiuk free throws made it 67-64.
Additional Mountaineer misses were retrieved by Lamont West and Ahmad that eventually led to Konate getting fouled by Udoka Azubuike with 1:01 to go - his fifth.
Konate missed the free throw, but Daxter Miles Jr. slipped free to tip it in to make it a one-point game, 67-66. At the other end Mitch Lightfoot was credited with a goal-tend basket, and Malik Newman free throws eventually sewed it up for the Jayhawks, now 15-3, 5-1.
"This is probably the most disappointed I've been, probably, since playing them last year and giving the game to them at their place," West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said of tonight's loss.
Kansas, which snapped its four-game WVU Coliseum losing streak, got points on all five of its remaining possessions while shooting 51.9 percent in the second half.
"They just physically and mentally out-toughed us tonight," Huggins said.
West Virginia's second half was not nearly as good as its first when the Mountaineers built a double-digit lead and frequently had tonight's capacity crowd of 14,115 out of their seats.
"What disappoints me most is we work like crazy to get people interested and here and we have a packed house and we don't finish the job," Huggins said. "You're going to miss shots, but we shouldn't throw the ball away the way we did today."
In addition to poor shooting, turnovers were also a contributing factor in the loss, particularly in the second half. One glaring miscue came just before Kansas' eight-point flurry when Miles Jr. tried to make a pass down the near sideline to West running with his back to the basket and Bolden running open on the other side of the floor.
The ball ended up landing out of bounds, turning what could have been an 11-point WVU lead with a basket into a six-point margin when Mykhailiuk hit a 3 at the other end.
The Mountaineers (15-3, 4-2) turned the ball over 16 times tonight and forced Kansas to commit 13, just three of those coming after halftime.
Sagaba Konate (7 of 10) and Ahmad (5 of 8) shot the ball effectively close to the basket, but West Virginia's primary outside shooters struggled mightily.
Jevon Carter was 4 of 15 and 2 of 8 from 3; Miles Jr. was 4 of 11 and 1 of 6; West was 3 of 10 and 1 of 7 and Bolden was 0 for 2 and 0 for 1 from 3 coming off the bench. Overall, the Mountaineers were 5 of 27 from 3 after an 11-of-28 performance from behind the arc at Texas Tech.
Konate led WVU with 16 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks. Ahmad added 15 off the bench while Carter finished with 14.
Freshman guard Teddy Allen, who scored 57 points in West Virginia's first three Big 12 wins against Oklahoma State, Kansas State and Oklahoma, failed to score at Texas Tech and did not play tonight.
The victory tonight gives Kansas sole possession of first place in the league standings with a 5-1 record.
West Virginia, alone at the top of the Big 12 standings just three days ago, falls to fourth place now below Kansas, Texas Tech and Oklahoma.
The Mountaineers return to the Coliseum on Saturday afternoon to face Texas at 2 p.m.
http://wvusports.com/news/2018/1/15/mens...night.aspx
For the second game in a row, West Virginia couldn't hang on to a double-digit lead in the second half. On Saturday, the Mountaineers led Texas Tech 38-31 at halftime and had the Red Raiders on the ropes down 11 with 13 minutes to go. The Red Raiders stormed back to win that one 72-71.
Tonight, the Mountaineers had a double-figure margin with eight minutes remaining before hitting a lull that saw their nine-point lead evaporate to one in a matter of just a 60 seconds of game time.
An Esa Ahmad two-point jumper, later changed to a three, gave the Mountaineers a 60-51 lead with 5:54 remaining. Then Mykhailiuk was left alone for a 3, his second in a row, a missed Ahmad 3 led to a pair of Malik Newman free throws and then an Ahmad turnover resulted in a Graham 3 to make it a one point game, 60-59.
Two Mykhailiuk free throws gave Kansas its first lead since the 14:53 mark of the first half, and then a Graham layup made it a three-point margin with 3:17 left.
Back-to-back baskets by Ahmad and Jevon Carter briefly put the Mountaineers back ahead, 65-64, but Mykhailiuk answered with another basket 18 seconds later.
When Carter couldn't get another jumper to go down, Mykhailiuk grabbed the rebound and was fouled by Wesley Harris. Two more Mykhailiuk free throws made it 67-64.
Additional Mountaineer misses were retrieved by Lamont West and Ahmad that eventually led to Konate getting fouled by Udoka Azubuike with 1:01 to go - his fifth.
Konate missed the free throw, but Daxter Miles Jr. slipped free to tip it in to make it a one-point game, 67-66. At the other end Mitch Lightfoot was credited with a goal-tend basket, and Malik Newman free throws eventually sewed it up for the Jayhawks, now 15-3, 5-1.
"This is probably the most disappointed I've been, probably, since playing them last year and giving the game to them at their place," West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said of tonight's loss.
Kansas, which snapped its four-game WVU Coliseum losing streak, got points on all five of its remaining possessions while shooting 51.9 percent in the second half.
"They just physically and mentally out-toughed us tonight," Huggins said.
West Virginia's second half was not nearly as good as its first when the Mountaineers built a double-digit lead and frequently had tonight's capacity crowd of 14,115 out of their seats.
"What disappoints me most is we work like crazy to get people interested and here and we have a packed house and we don't finish the job," Huggins said. "You're going to miss shots, but we shouldn't throw the ball away the way we did today."
In addition to poor shooting, turnovers were also a contributing factor in the loss, particularly in the second half. One glaring miscue came just before Kansas' eight-point flurry when Miles Jr. tried to make a pass down the near sideline to West running with his back to the basket and Bolden running open on the other side of the floor.
The ball ended up landing out of bounds, turning what could have been an 11-point WVU lead with a basket into a six-point margin when Mykhailiuk hit a 3 at the other end.
The Mountaineers (15-3, 4-2) turned the ball over 16 times tonight and forced Kansas to commit 13, just three of those coming after halftime.
Sagaba Konate (7 of 10) and Ahmad (5 of 8) shot the ball effectively close to the basket, but West Virginia's primary outside shooters struggled mightily.
Jevon Carter was 4 of 15 and 2 of 8 from 3; Miles Jr. was 4 of 11 and 1 of 6; West was 3 of 10 and 1 of 7 and Bolden was 0 for 2 and 0 for 1 from 3 coming off the bench. Overall, the Mountaineers were 5 of 27 from 3 after an 11-of-28 performance from behind the arc at Texas Tech.
Konate led WVU with 16 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks. Ahmad added 15 off the bench while Carter finished with 14.
Freshman guard Teddy Allen, who scored 57 points in West Virginia's first three Big 12 wins against Oklahoma State, Kansas State and Oklahoma, failed to score at Texas Tech and did not play tonight.
The victory tonight gives Kansas sole possession of first place in the league standings with a 5-1 record.
West Virginia, alone at the top of the Big 12 standings just three days ago, falls to fourth place now below Kansas, Texas Tech and Oklahoma.
The Mountaineers return to the Coliseum on Saturday afternoon to face Texas at 2 p.m.
http://wvusports.com/news/2018/1/15/mens...night.aspx
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