McBride, Sherman Push No. 17 West Virginia Past No. 23 Kansas
No. 17 West Virginia defeated No. 23 Kansas by a score of 91-79 on Saturday afternoon to move to 13-5 (6-3) on the season.
The Mountaineers pounded the rock inside early and often to their security blanket in big man Derek Culver. He had the first six points of the game for West Virginia and finished the first half with 13 points and six boards.
The defensive end of the floor has been where the Mountaineers have struggled this season but that wasn't necessarily the case in the first 20 minutes of play. They gave up a few easy looks but closed out on shooters, clogged passing lanes, and forced eleven first-half turnovers. West Virginia cashed in on their extra possessions with the basketball which really made the difference early on outscoring Kansas 18-5 in points off turnovers.
Sophomore guard Miles McBride had a terrific start to the game notching 12 points, six assists, four rebounds, and zero turnovers. He made some tightly contested shots and drove the ball down the line with aggression. With all the attention on McBride and Culver, Kansas continued to leave Taz Sherman open behind the three-point arc and he made them pay. Sherman drilled in three threes to help give West Virginia a 44-34 lead at the break.
Kansas quickly erased the 10-point halftime deficit by piecing together a 13-3 run to tie up the game at 47-47 just two minutes into the 2nd half. Both teams began to trade buckets back and forth with West Virginia getting 19 of their next 25 points from the duo of McBride and Sherman.
Derek Culver made his first field goal of the 2nd half with five minutes remaining to put the Mountaineers up 76-69. A couple of minutes later, Emmitt Matthews Jr. swished in a three from the corner to extend the lead to ten. Kansas got a little careless with the basketball on the next possession and threw it into the backcourt for a turnover. Culver added another two points from inside the paint to push it out to 12. Marcus Garrett got two points back at the free-throw line for the Jayhawks but Taz Sherman drove it hard to the cup, laying it in, and drawing the foul for the old-fashioned three-point play.
The Mountaineers were able to grasp firm control of the game in the final minutes at the free-throw line to send the Jayhawks packing.
West Virginia will be back in action on Tuesday at Texas Tech with a scheduled tip-off for 9 p.m. EST.
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