Despite struggling to score for the majority of the first half, No. 8 West Virginia was able to keep up with No. 1 Kansas. The Jayhawks’ firepower would prove to be too much in the second half, shooting 67 percent from the field over the final 20 minutes, beating the Mountaineers 78-61 on Thursday afternoon.
In the first half of the Big 12 Tournament Quarterfinals between West Virginia and Kansas, it was obvious who had played a game less than 24 hours prior. Kansas — despite being without their head coach Bill Self — looked well rested following a four-day layoff from their last game on Saturday. The Jayhawks took it to the Mountaineers with energy and effort during the first half.
“I think our guys they looked really tired,” West Virginia assistant coach DerMarr Johnson said on the radio after the game. “We’ve been battling for weeks trying to climb out of a hole we put ourselves in.”
Kansas had 13 second-chance points and were able to turn the Mountaineers over 11 times leading to 11 points. Kansas added seven offensive rebounds to their 19 total rebounds in the first half.
Big 12 Player of the Year Jalen Wilson was the catalyst to Kansas’ attack. Wilson scored 10 of his game-high 22 points in the first half, converting off his own offensive rebound multiple times to help the Jayhawks hold onto their lead.
Kansas would go on a 18-2 run over a 7:06 span in the final 10 minutes of the first half, while the Mountaineers struggled offensively playing mostly without Erik Stevenson who was in foul trouble in the first half.
Kansas took a 31-23 lead into halftime, while West Virginia shot 39 percent from the field and went 1 for 7 from three-point range.
In the second half, the Mountaineers got a quick strike from Tre Mitchell as he hit a three-pointer. Mitchell would hit another three-pointer to cut the deficit to five, but KJ Adams converted an and-one to push the Kansas lead back to eight.
The Mountaineers cut the Kansas lead to six multiple times in the second half, but only got it under that mark once. A Joe Toussaint layup put the Mountaineers down four with 12:15 to play, and then Emmitt Matthews would again cut the deficit to four less than a minute later.
Kansas would turn to Wilson and Dajuan Harris, with Harris making a runner in the paint, before Wilson hit a three-pointer to put Kansas in front 51-42.
Kansas had four of their five starters reach double figures, with Harris scoring 13, Gradey Dick adding another 18, and KJ Adams finishing with 13 points on 6 for 9 shooting. Wilson also added his 22 points, and 11 rebounds.
Kansas would pull away late in the second half, opening the lead up to 14, multiple times, before it ballooned to 17 with Dick hitting a three-pointer in the last minute.
“The quick turnaround, I don’t know if that took a toll on us or not,” Johnson said. “I don’t want to make excuses, but it seems like they wanted it more.”
Offensively for West Virginia, they finished the day shooting 45 percent from the field, and went 4 for 19 from three. The Mountaineers turned the ball over 13 times, leading to 13 Kansas points. Kansas out-rebounded the Mountaineers, 37-31, and had 16 total second-chance points, compared to just two for West Virginia. The Jayhawks also scored 52 points in the paint.
Stevenson led West Virginia in points with 13, but shot just 6 for 14 from the field, and made one of his seven three-pointers.
West Virginia now turns their attention to Sunday to find out where they will be playing, while Kansas advances to face Iowa State in the Big 12 semifinals.
