MORGANTOWN — Bob Huggins called his final timeout with 4.8 seconds remaining Saturday.
Jalen Bridges had just made two big free throws to give West Virginia a 71-68 lead against Kansas State, but at no time during the timeout did Huggins instruct his players to foul on the Wildcats’ last possession.
“Everybody wants you to foul,” he explained. “I’ve got beaten more on fouling and then the guy makes the first (free throw) and misses the second, they tip it out and a guy shoots in a three and we lose.
“I’ve had enough of those. I’ve got more confidence in the fact we can make it very difficult for them to make a three.”
K-State guard Markquis Nowell took the inbounds pass and raced up the court in the final seconds.
He got to the top of the key and launched an off-balanced 3-pointer that came up short.
“We didn’t want to foul,” WVU forward Gabe Osabuohien said. “We trusted our defense. We knew it was going to be a tough shot anyway. I think we did pretty good. I chased him off and Sean (McNeil) picked him up and he took a one-legged shot. We didn’t want to foul in that situation.”
Injured point guards
WVU point guards Malik Curry and Kedrian Johnson both were banged up in the win.
Curry went down to the floor with 11:11 left in the game and appeared to clutch his right knee.
He was helped off the court and did not return.
“He was limping down the hallway on crutches the last time I saw him,” Huggins said.
WVU (12-2, 1-1 Big 12) will next host Oklahoma State at 9 p.m. on Tuesday.
“He’ll play,” Huggins said of Curry. “Unless it’s broken, he’ll play.”
Johnson has been playing most of the season on a sore ankle and he reaggravated it again on Saturday, but did not come out of the game.
Johnson set a career high with 11 points in the win and added six rebounds and three assists.
Curry, who scored 14 off the bench in last week’s loss against Texas, had four points against Kansas State.
Tough week for K-State
For the second straight game, Kansas State played a game without head coach Bruce Weber, who has tested positive for COVID-19.
The Wildcats also played without fifth-year senior Mike McGuirl and Nowell and forward Davion Bradford had just returned from COVID protocol before the team traveled to Morgantown.
K-State played with nine healthy players and assistant coach Jermaine Henderson was on the sidelines with grad assistant Zack Price as his assistant.
“Tough day, but I told our guys to give credit to West Virginia,” Henderson said. “I’m really proud to be associated with these guys. It has not been an easy week for the program emotionally. I thought our mental was pretty good for 40 minutes. We just came up a little short at the end.”
What if?
WVU players were asked how they would handle a game if Huggins was forced to sit out due to COVID protocol, much like K-State players have had to with Weber being out.
“I think with our leadership and maturity, we’d be the same team,” Osabuohien said. “We trust our assistants and we know what we have to do. We have a brand of playing hard and making shots, so it would be the same thing.”
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