MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — In desperate need of a win, West Virginia men’s basketball hosted Kansas State on Tuesday, with a big bounce back opportunity in front of them.
After being blown out in their Big 12 opener against Houston on Saturday, West Virginia was able to keep it close for the majority of the first 30 minutes of play, the Wildcats were able to pull away over the final eight minutes, handing the Mountaineers a 81-67 loss, WVU’s third consecutive loss.
The Wildcats were able to expose WVU’s lack of size, while the Mountaineers’ shooting struggles were delayed a half, but were evident over the final 20 minutes of play.
Kansas State led 61-56 with 7:46 to play. The Wildcats would go on a 10-0 run from the 7:21 mark until there was 4:31 left to play, with all their points coming in the paint or at the free throw line.
At the same time, West Virginia’s offense was stifled, missing three three-pointers, while turning the ball over twice, as Kansas State went in front 71-56 and never looked back.
Things were back-and-forth early, with the Mountaineers keeping up in large part to their success from beyond the arc.
West Virginia had made five or less three-pointers in three of their last four games but surpassed that total in the first half alone.
WVU went 6 for 12 from three in the opening 20 minutes, with RaeQuan Battle scoring 18 points and making a pair of three’s from deep.
Kansas State jumped out to a 16-11 and were able to keep WVU’s offense in check, while the Wildcats abused the paint. Kansas State’s lead held as they went in front 26-21, with 18 of their points coming in the paint.
The team was on Battle’s back in the first half, as he scored nine of WVU’s first 11 points of the game. West Virginia came to life towards the end of the first half, going in front 31-30 on a Kerr Kriisa three-pointer with 5:05 to play, and then closing the half on a 5-0 run fueled by a pair of free throws from Battle, and a three-pointer from Kobe Johnson.
West Virginia took a 42-40 lead into halftime, despite Kansas State shooting 60 percent from the field in the first half.
In the second half, Kansas State used their size to their advantage in more ways than one. While having an emphasis on scoring in the paint, the Wildcats’ rebounding advantage was also stark.
Kansas State out-rebounded WVU 23-11 in the second half, while they also had 18 points in the paint.
“That’s just an emphasis for us as a team. When the ball gets to the paint, good things happen,” Kansas State head coach Jerome Tang said.
West Virginia shot 30 percent from the field and went 2 for 11 from three in the second half, after they shot 48 percent from the field in the first half.
The Mountaineers ended the evening shooting 39 percent from the field, and 35 percent from three. Battle finished with 21 points, while Kriisa and Noah Farrakhan each added 11 points.
WVU made a change to their starting five, inserting Josiah Harris and Pat Suemnick, sitting Quinn Slazinski and Akok Akok.
Harris and Suemnick combined for two points and seven rebounds, while Slazinski and Akok had 13 points and three rebounds.
