West Virginia could not buy a bucket on Saturday night against No. 3 Kansas, while the Jayhawks were scorching hot from three-point range. West Virginia could not keep up with Kansas, and the Jayhawks rolled to a 14-point victory.
Kansas is now 3-0 in Big 12 play and for the Mountaineers they now sit at the bottom of the conference at 0-3 with a long ways to go.
Shooting Blanks
West Virginia’s shooting performance to start Big 12 play has been anything but good. West Virginia’s worse three shooting performances percentage wise have come in their first three Big 12 games. The Mountaineers shot a season-low 35.1% from the field against Kansas. Their leading scorer heading into tonight’s contest was Erik Stevenson. Stevenson was just a couple points off his average with 12 points, but it took him 19 shots to do so. Stevenson scored four of his points at the free throw line, and he missed all five of his three-pointers.
Starting Five Got Outplayed
Kansas’ starting five dominated the game for them. All five of their starters scored at least 11 points, while they also accounted for all 11 of the Jayhawks’ three-pointers. West Virginia’s starting five went a combined 4 for 18 from beyond the arc and outside of Tre Mitchell, the other four shot 29 percent from the field. Kansas’ talent at the top showed off in a big way and WVU could not match it.
No Keddy = Big Problem
Back to the offensive struggles for West Virginia and some of it can be due to not having Kedrian Johnson. Johnson missed the game due to a concussion and there were too many times the ball got stuck and West Virginia was dribbling with their head down and not moving without the ball. There were looks made from Joe Toussaint who started in Johnson’s place but WVU had too many low percentage looks and went long stretches of the game without getting the ball close to the basket.
James plays big minutes
West Virginia has been looking to get more from their bigs behind Jimmy Bell and head coach Bob Huggins might have found it in James Okonkwo. Okonkwo played a season-high 18 minutes and had four points and six rebounds. Okonkwo also drew five fouls and had two blocks. Overall, his +/- was +3 and if he can continue to build on this performance it could go a long way.
0-3 Now What?
An 0-3 start in Big 12 play is manageable. West Virginia was not going to win every game, but they are not dead yet. An emotional game is incoming with the return of Jalen Bridges with Baylor. There was a lot of thought Kansas was must-win, but an 0-4 start in the toughest conference in the country could be the beginning of the end for this team.
