MORGANTOWN, W. Va. — The first WVU-Kansas game this season was a top 10 showdown.
On Saturday, it’s a meeting of two teams clawing just to remain in the national polls.
That’s just how much has changed since the Dec. 22 game, a 79-65 Jayhawks’ victory that saw Kansas connect on 16 3-pointers inside Allen Fieldhouse.
The Jayhawks (12-6, 6-4 Big 12) have fallen 20 spots in the AP poll since, a result of going 4-5 over their last nine games.
“We’ve shown that we can do it, but we haven’t been consistent over this past month,” K.U. head coach Bill Self said. “I think there are multiple reasons, but most of those reasons are also excuses, too.”
WVU STATISTICS
KANSAS STATISTICS
Those 16 threes against the Mountaineers? Kansas has only had one game since when it made at least 10 in a game and is shooting 30.2% from behind the arc over its last nine games.
“I would like to see our energy level improve,” Self said. “I’d like to see our joy playing probably improve. I’d like to see more smiles. I think those are the things that are more important than a scouting report in order to get our guys to maximize their abilities, not only individually, but also as a group.”
West Virginia (12-5, 5-3) has fallen 10 spots in the AP poll since that day in Kansas and is struggling with its own defensive identity.
The Mountaineers couldn’t guard Kansas’ threes in December and also gave up 11 of them in a loss against Oklahoma and nine each in wins against Texas Tech and Iowa State.
Texas’ game-winning shot on Jan. 9 was a wide-open 3-pointer from the corner at the buzzer.
“I don’t think it was our intensity, necessarily, I think it was our focus and our lack of effort sometimes,” WVU guard Taz Sherman said after the Mountaineers beat Iowa State on Tuesday. “Like, our lack of rotations, we could have a real intense moment and go score and then they’ll come down and somebody will just be wide open. That kind of stuff can’t happen. This is high-major basketball. If somebody gets an open shot, they’ll most likely make it.”
So, maybe in this instance, the sequel may not have as much hype as the original, but it still presents a major opportunity for both teams.
While second-ranked Baylor has steamrolled the competition through the first half of Big 12 play, both the Mountaineers and Jayhawks are in a four-way tie for second in the conference, along with Oklahoma and Texas.
A K.U. loss would knock the Jayhawks from the AP poll, which would end a national record of 231 consecutive weeks as a ranked team.
The last time the Jayhawks weren’t ranked was January 2009, when WVU junior forward Derek Culver was in the eighth grade.
“We make it sound like it’s doom and gloom,” Self said. “I looked it up this morning and we’ve lost to the Nos. 1, 2, 6, 9, 13 and the 26th-ranked teams in the country. Those are our losses and of those losses, all of them were away from home except for one. Those are hard games for anybody to win.”
A loss for WVU would be equally as devastating, considering the Mountaineers will still have five consecutive games against ranked teams to follow over a stretch of just 11 days.
“I think we have to care,” WVU head coach Bob Huggins said. “I think you have to care about your man scoring on you. I think you have to care about not helping your teammate by not making a rotation. I think you have to care about blocking somebody out.
“It’s not just defense, it’s everything. You tell them don’t dribble the ball 25 times between your legs and not go anywhere, but they still do it. Why? I keep asking them why? Why do you have to dribble it between your legs so many times? It hasn’t helped your shooting any.”
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