Kansas Basketball: Jayhawks pull miraculous comeback to beat WVU
Kansas basketball rallied down 14 with three minutes to go to avoid their second straight loss at Phog Allen Fieldhouse.
Kansas never loses at Phog Allen Fieldhouse. Seriously. Bill Self has been at Kansas for 14 years and the Jayhawks have lost a total of 10 games in Lawrence. 10!
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So with Kansas shockingly losing their previous home game to Iowa State two weekends ago, it was almost a guarantee that the Jayhawks would bounce back in emphatic fashion against West Virginia on Big Monday. In fact, Kansas hasn’t lost two straight home games since 1988 and they already lost to West Virginia once in Morgantown.
West Virginia had other ideas. They pestered the Jayhawks, beat them up inside and limited Frank Mason III for the majority of the evening.
But then the magic of the Phog took over.
Down 14 with three minutes remaining and some fans heading for the exits, the Jayhawks stormed back. With Kansas’ press stunting the Mountaineers’ offense, Devonte’ Graham hitting big shots and Mason making key free throws despite an off-game, Self’s squad completed an unbelievable comeback, tying the game with 21 seconds left and eventually sending the game to overtime.
Kansas Jayhawks Basketball
With all the momentum on their side, the Jayhawks pulled off the unthinkable, knocking off the Mountaineers, 84-80, after five extra minutes of play.
Everything the Jayhawks need to go right, went right down the stretch of regulation. Bob Huggins’ team turned the ball over, missed free throws, took questionable shots and had no answer for Jackson or Graham. Landen Lucas didn’t foul out despite playing with four fouls for a significant portion of the second half. And Mason kept his cool and made big plays.
The Jayhawks were led by Mason, who had 24 points on 16 free throws, but he shot just 3-of-13 from the field and had three turnovers. Graham also contributed heavily, scoring 18 points, while Jackson had 14 and 11 rebounds and Lagerald Vick gave the Jayhawks a big boost off the bench with 14 points.
The Jayhawks shot just 34 percent from the field, 35 percent from beyond the arc and missed countless layups and easy shots at the basket. They only turned the ball over 15 times in 45 minutes against ‘Press Virginia’, though, and had 12 assists on 21 field goals.
However, while Kansas was able to pull out the victory, this game showed why Kansas could make an early exit from the NCAA Tournament. Their front court is lacking as they only have only one true solid big guy who is reliable (Lucas). Bragg was abused all night long, Mitch Lightfoot isn’t ready and Dwight Coleby isn’t a guy who’s going to give you more than 10 minutes an evening, if that.
The Jayhawks defense is also a bit of a concern. They did force 21 turnovers, but that was mainly because of their end-of-the-game press. They let the Mountaineers shoot 41 percent from the field and had trouble stopping Esa Ahmad and Tarik Phillip. Most concerning is their lack of rim protection, which again comes back to their lack of size and length beyond Lucas.
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Regardless, the Jayhawks are ready to win their 13th straight Big 12 title. They are two games ahead of Baylor (after the Bears lost to Texas Tech last night) and three games ahead of West Virginia. They travel to Waco on Saturday to face Scott Drew and company, so that could turn out to be the dagger for the Jayhawks.