The West Virginia men’s basketball team experienced plenty of adversity during their trip to Lawrence, Kansas, but that didn’t allow them to fall short of their first victory, 62-61, in Jayhawk territory Tuesday afternoon.
The charter plane that was scheduled to leave West Virginia Monday afternoon didn’t take off until after midnight due to a flat tire. The team arrived early Tuesday morning in Kansas causing little sleep.
Starters Tucker DeVries and Amani Hansberry were also unavailable for the big game due to previous injuries. Senior Jayden Stone has yet to play this season due to an undisclosed issue.
According to ESPN, the Mountaineers were expected to have a 14.2% chance to beat the No. 7 Jayhawks. After all, out of 11 matchups on the road, the Mountaineers had never brought a victory from Kansas home to West Virginia. The Jayhawks had the upper hand in meetings between the two teams with 21 wins compared to the Mountaineers’ seven.
Although this may have been the first ever win in Allen Fieldhouse, the Mountaineers overpowered the Jayhawks in 2015 at home with the same nail-bitting score of 62-61.
Head coach Darian DeVries shared how proud he was of the boys in the locker room following the victory while wearing a team issued shirt that read, “no excuses.”
“I don’t care who we put out there, because I believe in every single one of you,” DeVries said. “You stayed together, you stayed within yourselves, you stayed composed,” he added.
The Mountaineers hope to keep the winning energy alive as they return home to face Oklahoma State at noon on Saturday.
