WVU falls apart in the Phog loses to Kansas 84-80 in overtime
No. 9/12 West Virginia (20-6, 8-5) completely unraveled down the stretch blowing a 14-point lead with under three minutes left to lose to Kansas 84-80 in overtime Monday night.
The Mountaineers led 64-50 with 2:58 left, but turnovers coupled with missed free throw allowed the Jayhawks to rally and send the game into overtime at 71-all. From there, Kansas would completely control the extra period securing the win.
West Virginia missed a golden opportunity to keep itself alive in the Big 12 championship race and secure its first victory inside Allen Fieldhouse allowing the game to compeltely get away down the stretch.
Sophomore Esa Ahmad followed up a 27-point performance in the first meeting of the two teams by scoring 20 points and recording seven rebounds. Senior guard Tarik Phillip recorded 18 points, while senior guard Jevon Carter scored 11 points.
For the third consecutive game, Phillip drew the start of junior guard Daxter Miles who is still recovering from an ankle sprain that cost him the Oklahoma contest.
West Virginia jumped out to a quick 10-0 lead with Phillip scoring five points of those points as the Mountaineers opened the game strong in the hostile environment of Allen Fieldhouse. The Mountaineers hit seven of their first eleven shots from the field to build a 16-5 advantage at the 13:30 mark of the first half in an excellent start for the visiting team.
As for Kansas, the Jayhawks uncharacteristically made 1-12 shots from the field allowing West Virginia to seize control in the early stages of the first half. West Virginia would lead 21-10 with under ten minutes left in the first half as the Mountaineers continued to shoot well from the field.
But the Jayhawks would get back into the game quickly using an 8-0 run to cut the deficit to 21-18 in only 1:11 on the floor forcing Bob Huggins to use his first timeout. And the early bleeding would continue as Kansas would stretch the run to 16-0 to take a 26-21 lead as West Virginia fell apart on the offensive end in the half court and was not able to make stops in transition.
But from there West Virginia would catch its breath to tie the game at 26-all and the score would then see-saw between the two teams for the next several minutes. And West Virginia would finish the half strong using an 8-0 run over the final minute to take a 39-32 lead into the locker room.
The Mountaineers entered halftime hitting 47-percent of its shots, while holding Kansas to 33-percent, while Carter led West Virginia in scoring with 11 points and Ahmad added 10 points to the effort.
West Virginia would come out of the break hitting a three pointer by Adrian and the Mountaineers would lead 42-36 at the 17-minute mark of the second half. Fouls would mount for West Virginia in the second half as the Jayhawks would go into the bonus with 13:45 remaining in the game however the lead would sit at 47-40 with 12:55 left in the game.
Huggins club would go over three minutes without a basket, but the Jayhawks continued to struggle as well allowing West Virginia to hold a 51-44 lead with 9:10 to play. The Mountaineers would continue to lock down on the Jayhawks in the half court as West Virginia held Kansas to 3-15 from the floor at the 5:30 mark taking the biggest lead of the game at that point at 61-48.
The Mountaineers would swell the lead to as many as 14-points seemingly in total control with under three minutes left, but Kansas would make a run to cut the score to 64-55 with 2:18 remaining to play in the game.
And from there the Jayhawks would rally to tie the game and send it into overtime where Kansas would dominate the early portion of the extra period and hold on late leaving West Virginia with a loss and avenging the defeat in Morgantown.
