Kansas Rolls Past West Virginia 76-62
Morgantown, West Virginia hasn’t been a kind place for Kansas to play over the past decade. The Jayhawks have lost more in that building than won over the last 10 years prior to Saturday. But that wasn’t the case today as Kansas led by as many as 20 on the way to a 76-62 win.
Kansas was feeling right at home from beyond the arc to start the game. West Virginia scored the first four points and Kevin McCullar missed Kansas’ first three, but then, the Jayhawks got red hot. Gradey Dick hit back-to-back threes. Jalen Wilson was next to hit a three, and then Dajuan Harris continued his hot shooting for a fourth consecutive make from long distance and KU was off to an early 14-8 lead.
Harris would hit a second before he missed and McCullar got in on the action with his own. All of a sudden Kansas was up 22-10. West Virginia would fight back as Kansas went a bit colder from the floor and Dick picked up two early fouls. But KJ Adams came up with play after play in the first half with a couple of dunks and, more importantly for this team, free throws.
Kansas has struggled to get to the line all season long, and early on, it looked like that would continue. KU was called for six fouls before the Mountaineers picked up their first. But that quickly changed thanks to some aggressive offensive rebounds and paint passes from Harris. The Jayhawks hit 9-11 foul shots in the first half, including a 6-8 clip from Adams.
Another Dick three gave Kansas a 12-point lead at 40-28 with 2:35 left, but the last two minutes were all WVU. A bonehead play by Joseph Yesufu cost the Jayhawks as he fouled Joe Toussaint on a three and Toussaint was able to complete the four-point play to cut the lead to 40-34. The Mountaineers would ultimately go on a 7-0 run to diminish Kansas’ lead to five, but a heads-up offensive rebound by Adams with 1.8 seconds left led to a foul, two free-throws, and a seven-point KU lead at the half.
McCullar opened the second half with another three to extend the lead to 10. But Kansas was again helping West Virginia stay in it. Dick fouled a three-point shooter who hit all three and the lead was down to six. Wilson immediately answered with a triple, followed by a Harris layup on the next play.
The Mountaineers did not have Kansas’ shooting touch in the second half. Mid-way through the second half, WVU had a stretch where it missed 10 of 11 shots. Kansas was able to stretch the lead back to double-digits, but turnovers kept the game close. The Jayhawks had 10 in the first 28 minutes of the game.
Kansas finally began taking advantage of WVU’s misses. Dick hit his fourth three in five tries and then Zach Clemence got his first minutes and finished inside. Then it was the Mountaineers’ turn to foul a three-point shooter, as they sent Dick to the line for three and all of a sudden it was 62-43.
Bobby Pettiford showed up big for another strong performance. After hitting a free-throw, Pettiford out-jumped bigger defenders to tip in his own miss and give Kansas a 69-49 lead with 7:07 left. He finished with five points, three rebounds, and an assist.
The Jayhawks sent WVU to the foul line the last seven minutes as the Mountaineers got the lead to 14, but by that time, the damage was done. Though it wasn’t a pretty ending. Kansas only scored seven points in the last seven minutes, and a three by Harris with 33 seconds left was the only field goal.
Still, Kansas completed a double-digit win on the road, which in this version of the Big 12, is incredible no matter how it happens. All five Kansas starters scored in double figures, led by Dick’s 16 points. Wilson and Adams both finished with 14, and Wilson was also a beast on the boards, grabbing 14. McCullar grabbed eight rebounds and recorded a team-high three steals, while Harris dished out four assists to go with his 11 points.
West Virginia only shot 35% from the field and 20% from three. Meanwhile, Kansas hit 42% of its field goals, 11-24 threes, and got to the line 19 times, which was the most since the Missouri game.
Kansas will now take its 3-0 conference record back to Lawrence and host Oklahoma on Tuesday.
