Kansas Booted From Top 25 Following Double Digit Loss To WVU
West Virginia (13-5, 6-3) got revenge on No. 23 Kansas (12-7, 6-5) Saturday afternoon in Morgantown. When the two teams squared off on December 22, the Jayhawks dealt the Mountaineers their second loss of the season.
The tables turned, however, on Saturday when the Mountaineers' 91-79 victory marked the fifth tally in the Jayhawks' loss column over the last seven games.
The Mountaineers knocked down 11-of-21 shots from beyond the arc and getting a career-high 31 points form sophomore guard Deuce McBride. The Mountaineers' 91 points were the second-highest allowed by the Jayhawks defense this season, trailing only No. 1 Gonzaga who put up 102 points against Kansas on November 26.
The Jayhawks have not been withheld from the AP Top 25 for a single game since February 2, 2009. Thanks to the Mountaineers, Kansas is out of the ranking for the first time in 231 consecutive poll releases.
“We won’t be ranked next week, nor do we deserve to be ranked,” Kansas head coach Bill Self said following Saturday's game. “Now we have a chance to get back in there if we start doing some consecutive things well. It's a pretty remarkable streak.”
Kansas may find some relief over its next four-game stretch, as they'll play only teams who are not currently included in the Top 25. The Jayhawks coming schedule includes a matchup against Oklahoma State, who defeated No. 6 Texas Saturday, back-to-back games against Iowa State, and a contest against Kansas State.
“They’re all important and they all add up the same at the end," Self said of the approaching schedule. "There’s an opportunity playing at home the next two games to get some momentum. We've got to look at that as an opportunity and certainly want to make the most of that.”
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