WVU misses a huge opportunity in Lawrence

West Virginia battled all day long at Allen Fieldhouse, finally cutting the Kansas (24-5, 12-4) lead to one with 34 seconds to play on a Emmitt Matthews dunk but the comeback fell short after an empty final possession, losing 76-74. 

West Virginia (16-13, 5-11) found themselves down 75-68 with just 2:18 to play and their backs against the wall. Keddy Johnson was able to get a layup on the next possession, then a defensive stand by WVU had Erik Stevenson finding Keddy Johnson on the fast break who was fouled and knocked down both free throws with 39 seconds left. 

Emmitt Matthews was able to get a steal on the inbounds and dunked it home to have the Mountaineers down one with 34 seconds remaining. 

Kansas’ Jalen Wilson went 1-2 on his free throws and WVU had the ball down two with 23 seconds left. The final possession was a mess for the West Virginia with Joe Touissant dribbling nearly the entire clock before driving, losing the ball but regaining it and getting it out to Emmitt Matthews who passed it back which led to a Touissant travel with .4 seconds left to seal the loss.

Turnovers were a large issue for the Mountaineers in the game, finishing with a season-high 21 turnovers. West Virginia turned it over seven times in the first six and a half minutes of the game and had 10 first half turnovers.

The Mountaineers were able to force the Jayhawks to turn the ball over to stay in it. Kansas also finished with 10 first half turnovers and 19 total turnovers. 

The game was close from start to finish with the largest lead being Kansas leading by eight, 56-54 with 13 minutes remaining in the game. There were 15 lead changes and nine ties in the game. 

Erik Stevenson led the Mountaineers with 23 points, six rebounds and four assists. Tre Mitchell had his second consecutive 20+ point game, scoring 20 points 8-12 shooting and 3-5 from three. 

West Virginia shot 46% from the field, 29% from three and 86% from the free throw line. WVU also finished with 14 offensive rebounds, with 11 of them coming in the second half which was their best offense in the half. 

Dajuan Harris led the Jayhawks with 17 points and six steals to go along with six assists. Gradey Dick was once again a thorn in the side of WVU, scoring 16 points on 5-8 shooting from three. Kevin McCullar also finished with 16 for Kansas. 

As a team Kansas shot 55% from the field, 50% from three but only 59% from the free throw line, including some big misses late that helped West Virginia stay in the game.

West Virginia once again has a quick turnaround, traveling to Ames, Iowa to take on Iowa State on Monday at 9 p.m.

Photo by Aaron Parker