West Virginia men’s basketball is looking to rebound from a rough loss to No. 15 Oklahoma as they face another ranked team in No. 3 Kansas on Saturday at the WVU Coliseum.
West Virginia enters this matchup at 6-11 with a 1-3 mark in conference play. They kept it close in the first half of their 77-63 loss to Oklahoma on Wednesday, then it was all Oklahoma from there.
Kansas enters this matchup at 15-2 with a 3-1 mark in conference play. They are coming off a 90-66 road win against Oklahoma State this past Tuesday, with the 90 points being the third time this season in which they have reached that mark in a game.
Kansas is led in scoring by 6-foot-7 guard Kevin McCullar Jr. with 19.8 points per game. He also leads the team in 3-pointers made with 26 and in free throws with 94.
McCullar is also one of two players in the nation to have had more than one triple double on the season through Jan. 18.
They also have 7-foot-2 center Hunter Dickinson, who is a transfer from Michigan. He leads the team in rebounds with 11.7 per game, which is a top 10 mark in the nation, and is second on the team in points per game with 19.3.
Dickinson is taller than anyone West Virginia has on their roster, and he will look to challenge West Virginia with his tall frame. He is also one of nine players in the nation to have had at least 10 double doubles on the season through Jan. 18.
West Virginia is led in scoring by forward Quinn Slazinski with 240 total points. After becoming eligible to play in mid-December, guard RaeQuan Battle leads the team in points per game with 19.
Center Jesse Edwards leads the team in rebounds per game with 8.7, but he is still out with injury. Forwards Josiah Harris and Quinn Slazinksi are tied for second on the team with 4.6 rebounds per game.
Kansas enters in at 15-2 as aforementioned and has not been ranked below fifth in the AP Poll at any point this season. West Virginia interim head coach Josh Eilert spoke with Tony Caridi about how complete of a team they were.
“Very complete team, every position they play their position very well, they play their role very well,” Eilert said. “I wouldn’t say they’re an extremely deep team, and they don’t go that deep. I think they go by eight or nine at most. But they got some really great pieces there.”
Eilert added how rebounding will be key if they want to be able to pull off the upset.
“We gotta get back,” Eilert said. “If we’re not gonna crash, I want four and five to crash, but if three-man ain’t gonna crash, you gotta get back. We really got to turn it into a half-court game, and then we got to sure up the paint.”
Tipoff for tomorrow’s game is set for 4 p.m. EST at the Coliseum, with the game available on ESPN+.
