Kansas at West Virginia: 5 storylines for 2020-21 Big 12 matchup

When the Kansas Jayhawks travel to Morgantown to take on the West Virginia Mountaineers on Saturday for a 2 pm tip-off, it will be a clash of two teams in search of a two-win week in order to erase the memory of the previous week. Both these Big 12 teams fell in the AP Poll this past week as  Kansas Basketball fell eight spots to No. 23 and West Virginia fell six spots to No. 17.

Head Coach Bill Self and the Jayhawks closed out January with a 19 point loss to Tennessee but bounced back earlier this week with an easy victory over Kansas State. The Jayhawk’s seventh-ranked Big 12 offense is led by junior guard Ochai Agbaji and his 14.1 points per game along with forwards Jalen Wilson and David McCormack who contribute 12 points each.

The Jayhawks’ defense has been more of their calling card this season as they surrender the third-least amount of points per game in the Big 12. The Jayhawks’ defense is led by reigning Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Garrett.

West Virginia enters Saturday’s game with a 5-3 Big 12 record, their No.17 ranking comes off the strength from quality victories over Texas Tech and Oklahoma State. The Mountaineers‘ fourth-best Big 12 offense was not enough however in losses to Gonzaga, Oklahoma, Texas, and Florida all by five points or fewer. The most relevant loss was the game they lost 79-65 to Kansas on Dec. 22, 2020.

Traditionally not the case for Bob Huggins coached teams, but, the Mountaineers offense has been their greatest asset this season. With sophomore guard, Miles McBride averaging over 15 points and 6’10 junior Derek Culver averaging over 14 points with more than 10 rebounds a game, the match-up to determine the fourth-place team in the Big 12 has a handful of storylines of interest.