Rapid Takeaways as West Virginia Edges Out K-State to Remain Perfect at Home

Initial thoughts on WVU's win over Kansas State.

Jan 27, 2026; Morgantown, West Virginia, USA; Kansas State Wildcats guard CJ Jones (3) drives baseline against West Virginia Mountaineers forward DJ Thomas (5) during the first half at Hope Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Ben Queen-Imagn Images | Ben Queen-Imagn Images

The streak stays alive! West Virginia took down Kansas State in a scrappy battle Tuesday night, 59-54, extending their home winning streak to 16, which dates back to last year.

Here are a few of my thoughts from this one...

Weathered the horrific start

Kansas State's trapping really bothered West Virginia in the early going. They were dribbling into the traps way too often, resulting in a stagnant offense with little ball movement. Once the rock started swinging a little bit and there was more movement off the ball, the Mountaineers started to heat up. To play as poorly as they did out of the gates and take an eight-point lead into the locker room was impressive.

Surprise in the turnover battle

Coming into this game, I thought West Virginia had a clear edge in this phase of the game, and I thought it would be what allowed them to pull away from the Wildcats. Instead, K-State flipped the script on them. They took care of the ball all night while WVU was sloppy, seemingly from start to finish. They're very fortunate that it didn't end up costing them the game.

The two droughts

The first team foul called on Kansas State came at the 2:18 mark. From the 10:18 to the 3:17 mark, West Virginia didn't make a single shot from the floor. No makes and no free throws over a seven-minute stretch is rare, and usually when that happens, you lose.

Avoided a huge stain on the resume

Losing to a .500 team at home without three of its rotational players would have been a really bad look. That would have been three bad losses when you throw in the Xavier and Wake Forest games — the Demon Deacons, by the way, lost to Pitt tonight. The one thing West Virginia has been able to count on up to this point is taking care of the home floor, and although it wasn't pretty, they did it again tonight.

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