No. 24 West Virginia Falls to Kansas State

The Mountaineers drop their Big 12 opener to the Wildcats

Manhattan, KS - The No. 24 West Virginia Mountaineers (12-1, 0-1) held an 11-point advantage at halftime before the Kansas State Wildcats (10-3, 0-1) came roaring back in the second half to take an eight-point lead. The Mountaineers evened the game at the of regulation, but the Wildcats took control in overtime for the 82-76 win. 

West Virginia forward Jimmy Bell Jr. got to work underneath early, grabbing an offensive rebound before working the ball back to the middle of the paint for the game's first bucket. He followed with an offensive putback two possessions later and guard Erik Stevenson found him open underneath for the easy dunk as the Mountaineers opened the game on a 13-1 run. 

The Mountaineers led by as many as 14 in the first half and held a 13-point advantage at the 7:15 mark of the first half before Kansas State went on an 8-0 run to get within five. 

West Virginia responded with a 6-0 spurt, capped off with forward Emmitt Matthews Jr. slipping out into the open court for an easy two-handed slam giving the Mountaineers a 29-18 lead with 3:25 remaining in the half. 

West Virginia took a 32-21 lead into halftime with seven Mountaineers scoring in the first half, led by forward Tre Mithell's seven points and while forwards Mohamed Wague and Matthews put in six.

Kansas State quickly began to chip away at the Mountaineers lead to open the second half. Wildcats guard Markquis Nowell started driving the ball to the basket to lead the comeback, and his tenacity got the K-State to within five at the 16:51 mark of the second half. 

West Virginia guard Seth Wilson put the Mountaineers up seven but a quick five points from Nowell cut the WVU deficit to two. Then, Joe Toussaint answered with a three and the Mountaineers were back up five, 42-37 with 14:05 remaining in the second half. 

Kansas State answered with a bucket and a Mountaineer turnover on the ensuing possession led to a lay-in for the Wildcats to get within one. 

The Wildcats took the lead when a loose ball foul on Toussaint was later dealt a technical on the play, gave two free throws to the Wildcats and Nowell went 1-2 to tie the game, and forward Keyontae Johnson followed with an easy bucket and the Wildcats grabbed their first least of the game 44-42.

Kansas State outscored West Virginia 32-12 in the first 10 minutes of the second half to build an eight-point lead, 52-44.

West Virginia held the Wildcats scoreless for nearly five minutes to tie the game at 52 but Kansas State guard ended the drought with a bucket then Nae'qwan Tomlin got the bucket, and the foul and Kansas State was back up five with 4:43 left to play.

Stevenson broke open underneath before hitting a deep two to get West Virginia within one, then Tre Mitchell followed with a layup as the Mountaineers regained the lead, 63-62, with 1:03 remaining in the game. 

After a Kansas State timeout, Keyontae drove to the middle of the paint, and worked a floater around the Mountaineer defender to retake the lead. 

West Virginia came up empty handed on the ensuing possession and Kansas State followed with a pair of free throws to go up three with 12 seconds remaining. 

On the game's final possession, Tre Mitchell put up a three, then it was tapped out to wide open Kedrian Johnson who buried a three from the left wing as time expired, sending the game to overtime. 

Kansas State started the extra period on a 6-0 run and the Mountaineers never recovered as the Wildcats took the Big 12 opener 82-76.

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