MORGANTOWN, W. Va. — The advantage Kansas center Udoka Azubuike has against just about anyone he plays is evident the moment he walks into the arena.
“Azubuike is what, 7-foot-1 and 290 pounds?” West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins began. “In my brief experience in this business, it’s helped quite a bit whenever I saw somebody with that kind of guy.”
Because of injuries throughout his career, Azubuike, a senior, has faced the Mountaineers only twice. He’s combined for 31 points and 14 rebounds in two wins against WVU during the 2017-18 season.
“He’s just so big and strong and he pushes you up the lane,” Huggins said. “They get a lot of where they throw it over top of you. If you stay behind, he just backs you down. He creates a lot of problems.”
His one area of weakness is free-throw shooting.
Azubuike is a career 38% shooter from the line and is shooting just 31.8% this season.
If the 16th-ranked Mountaineers (11-1) find themselves in a close game Saturday late in the second half against No. 3 Kansas (10-2), Huggins said he isn’t opposed to the Hack-a-Shaq strategy of simply fouling Azubuike and sending him to the line.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever developed that philosophy, but you do what you’ve got to do to win or you do what you do to try and give you your best opportunity to win,” Huggins said. “I doubt that he touches the ball much if they’re ahead and we’re fouling. He very well may not be in the game.”
At Allen Fieldhouse
The Mountaineers will attempt to write a different chapter playing at Allen Fieldhouse, in what has been a horror story otherwise.
WVU is 0-7 on the road at Kansas. Included in that is the Feb. 13, 2017 game, in which Kansas erased a 14-point deficit with less than three minutes remaining in regulation to pull out an 84-80 overtime victory.
That game featured a Kansas full-court press that created numerous turnovers late, as well as several questionable plays that referees failed to see, like Kansas defenders standing out of bounds while guarding the inbounds pass.
The Feb. 17, 2018 game saw the Jayhawks win, 77-69, but Huggins was ejected late in the second half.
His grievance at the time? Kansas attempted 35 free throws in the game and West Virginia attempted only two.
With a true road win at Pitt and a neutral-court win against No. 2 Ohio State this season, Huggins was asked if this group of Mountaineers had what it takes to get over the hump at Kansas?
“Well, it’s hard not to think about the happenings at Allen Fieldhouse over the years,” Huggins said. “Not just us, but for other people. I think that’s always in the back of their minds.”
Much like that 2018 version, the Mountaineers have faced a wide disparity at the free-throw line when playing at Allen Fieldhouse.
In the seven games there, Kansas has made more free throws (164) than WVU has attempted (147).
On average, Kansas has shot 31.3 free throws, while the Mountaineers have attempted an average of 21 per game at Allen Fieldhouse.
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