The West Virginia men’s basketball team lost to Kansas State 81-67 on Tuesday, dropping their third game in a row and starting 0-2 in conference play.
Half Comparison
The Mountaineers led 42-40 heading into halftime but then struggled to recreate their first-half success in the second-half.
West Virginia shot 6-12 from three in the first and just 2-11 in the second.
WVU guard RaeQuan Battle hit two of three of his three-point attempts in the first 20 minutes but did not make one in the game following on three more attempts.
Battle scored 18 points in the first and just three points in the second.
As a team WVU watched its field-goal percentage go from 48% (12-25) in the first half to 30.8% (8-26) in the second half, totalling out at 39.2% for the game.
Rebounding
Since the injury of center Jesse Edwards, the Mountaineers have struggled to replace his height and presence in the paint leading to them getting out-rebounded game after game.
Against the Wildcats, West Virginia was out-rebounded 35-22.
Kansas State had nine offensive rebounds as well as nine points off rebounds and 11 second-chance points.
As for WVU, they had six points off rebounds and just four second-chance points.
Points in the Paint
Going off that, the Wildcats had total control inside.
Kansas State had double the amount of points in the paint as West Virginia, 44-22.
Points in the paint accounted for 54% of the Wildcats total points, they were six-for-six on dunks and made 16 layups.
Summary
In conclusion, poor shooting in the second-half and defensive woes led to yet another loss for the Mountaineers.
WVU interim head coach Josh Eilert went with a never before seen starting five including: Battle, Kerr Kriisa, Noah Farrakhan, Josiah Harris and Pat Suemnick as he continues to attempt to figure out what works without Edwards while also having to incorporate players into the lineup who weren’t eligible at the beginning of the season.
Edwards is on track with recovery, but still has progress to make.
West Virginia will take on No. 25 Texas at home on Saturday at 6 p.m. EST as they look to improve and turn the tide on their season. The game can be streamed on ESPN+.
