Coming off of an up-and-down home stand that saw a disappointing upset loss to Texas Tech followed by a blowout win over Oklahoma State, West Virginia travels to Allen Fieldhouse looking for their first ever win in the arena.
The Mountaineers (16-12, 5-10) last two games have been a microcosm of their season. Last Saturday, West Virginia had the chance to snap their three game losing streak against one of the worst teams in the conference. Instead, the Mountaineers let Texas Tech hang around all game and despite leading by eight with eight minutes left, fell to the Red Raiders.
Monday was an entirely different story for WVU, where West Virginia jumped out to an early double digit lead and didn’t relinquish it for the rest of the game en route to an 18 point win to keep their season alive. Senior forward Tre Mitchell scored a season high 22 points in the game, and 5th year senior guard Erik Stevenson scored 23 to propel the Mountaineers to their fifth conference win.
Kansas (23-5, 11-4) on the other hand is coming into the game on a five game winning streak, with their last loss coming on Feb. 4against Iowa State. The Jayhawks picked up a tough road win over TCU their last time out, spoiling Mike Miles’ return for the Horned Frogs.
West Virginia is also coming into the matchup having never beaten Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse after 10 trips there. The closest the Mountaineers have come to defeating Kansas on the road was in 2017, when they were up by 14 points with three minutes remaining but the Jayhawks were able to force overtime where they ultimately defeated West Virginia 84-80.
West Virginia’s first ever win at the Fieldhouse couldn’t come at a better time, sitting on the bubble of the approaching NCAA tournament, the Mountaineers could use a signature win to secure their place.
Junior forward Jalen Wilson is the player to watch for the Jayhawks, averaging 19.9 points per game this season to go along with 8.8 rebounds. Despite the loss to the Jayhawks at home earlier in the season, Wilson was held in check scoring 14 points on 4-12 shooting, although he added 14 rebounds.
Freshman guard Gradey Dick is the player Mountaineer fans will remember from the January meeting. Dick scored 16 points on only seven shots, where all four of his made field goals were threes.
West Virginia will need the defense they had on Monday that held Oklahoma State to only 21 first half points, rather than the defense from Saturday that allowed 34 first half points. The Mountaineers cannot get off to a slow start and let Kansas have control of the game early to have a chance to win.
Photo by Aaron Parker
