Kansas Jayhawks suffer upset loss at West Virginia 91-85
The Kansas Jayhawks suffered their second loss of Big 12 play on Saturday afternoon, losing on the road against the West Virginia Mountaineers 91-85.
KU and WVU were tied at 51 at halftime, and the Jayhawks led by one with 2:41 to play. The Mountaineers ended the game on an 11-4 run to finish the game, however.
KU had five players score in double figures in the loss, led by a game-high 24 points on 10-14 from the floor for senior guard Kevin McCullar. Senior center Hunter Dickinson scored 19 points Saturday but also had just five rebounds. His two lowest rebounding totals of the year have come in upset road losses to West Virginia and the UCF Knights.
Freshman guard Johnny Furphy added 13 points this weekend, while junior forward K.J. Adams had 11 and senior guard Nick Timberlake tacked on 12 off the bench. KU shot 53.3% from the floor as a team but just 30.4% from three-point range. West Virginia made 51.8% of its shots overall but knocked down 57.1% of its three-point attempts.
The Jayhawks allowed three Mountaineers to crack double figures, including two players who had 20-point games. RaeQuan Battle scored 23 in the winning effort while Patrick Suemnick contributed 20 for West Virginia.
“I thought they were great,” Kansas coach Bill Self said regarding West Virginia. “I thought everybody on their team played exceptionally well, especially in the first half offensively. We couldn’t guard them and we didn’t come prepared to defend like you need to against guys that are really good shooters and can go get their own such as Battle.”
With the loss, the Jayhawks are one of five teams in the Big 12 with a 3-2 conference record. KU will try to bounce back on Monday when it hosts the Cincinnati Bearcats, who are 2-3 so far in their first season in the Big 12. That game is slated for an 8:00 p.m. start Monday night in Lawrence.
For more on the Kansas Jayhawks’ 91-85 loss to the West Virginia Mountaineers, check out 580 Sports Talk Monday from 2-6 p.m. on 580 WIBW.
