Kansas vs West Virginia: 2019 Big 12 Tournament game preview, TV schedule
By Chris Kern
The Kansas Jayhawks took care of business against Texas while the West Virginia Mountaineers pulled off the upset against the best team in the Big 12.
TV schedule: March 15, 9:30 ET ESPN2
Location: Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri
The Kansas Jayhawks didn’t play great but they were able to hold off the Texas Longhorns to advance to the semifinals. The play of David McCormack was a big part of them getting the win. While this was a good win for Kansas it was a tough loss for Texas and very likely could keep them from getting into the NCAA Tournament.
The West Virginia Mountaineers pulled off an absolute shocker Thursday night in their win over the Texas Tech Red Raiders. They dominated for the majority of the game before Texas Tech rallied and took the lead late. It was an all-around team effort but Emmitt Matthews‘ career-best 28 points were key in getting this win.
It will take a similar performance if they want to beat Kansas on Friday night to extend their season. If the Mountaineers play with the same type of intensity the Jayhawks will struggle to match it. They will have the opportunity to dominate the rebounding just as they did against Texas Tech.
The regular season meetings were split at one a piece with the home team winning each matchup. The meeting in Morgantown ended with the Jayhawks choking away a lead as they saw Jermaine Haley making a game-winning layup with less than 15 seconds remaining. That was the first game where we saw West Virginia play well and they showed us all that they were capable of being a competitive basketball team.
The game in Lawrence was a dominating performance by the Jayhawks. It was a good team effort on both ends of the floor that ended in a 78-53 win. The way both teams have played recently this game will be much closer than that game was.
One interesting note is that Sagaba Konate did suit up Thursday so who knows if he could have a chance to play in this game. It seems unlikely that he would but it is a situation to monitor as the day goes along and we get closer to tip-off. Either way, the big man matchup between Dedric Lawson and Derek Culver will be key. Both players have had dominant players for their teams this season and they will need to have big performances once again.
Another exciting matchup in this game is the point guard matchup between Devon Dotson and Jordan McCabe. Dotson has been talked about a lot for his great skill and his speed attacking the basket but McCabe has gone a bit under the radar. He started the season behind James Bolden but he has developed himself into a very good player who makes a big impact on this team.
West Virginia has made it known they want to win the Big 12 Tournament so they can advance to the NCAA Tournament. Nobody thought they had a chance but now they are halfway there, they just need two more wins to secure an automatic bid. They haven’t shied away from that being their goal. Many teams in this situation just take it game by game since they know they having nothing to lose but not West Virginia, they want to make it back to the NCAA Tournament.
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Kansas will need to match West Virginia’s intensity in this game if they want to win. Texas Tech didn’t for the majority of the 40 minutes and that’s why they were in a big hole and would eventually lose. The Jayhawks are trying to get confidence before the NCAA Tournament and they will play well in this game as they will end the Mountaineers’ season.