COMMENTARY
MORGANTOWN, W. Va. — At some point Tuesday, you had to wonder if this was actually West Virginia that Kansas was playing.
The uniforms said so. The ESPN2 telecast said so, too.
But, this WVU team that fell to the third-ranked Jayhawks, 79-65, at Allen Fieldhouse was not the same Mountaineers’ we were led to believe they were.
Were was the toughness? Were was the tenacity on the offensive glass?
More importantly, where was the defense?
That was the biggest question of the night, as the Jayhawks launched one open 3-pointer after another.
Made them, too, which should not have been a surprise. I’m sure the scouting report coming into the game noted Kansas was second in the Big 12 in made 3s.
The fact that Kansas finished an impressive 16 of 37 from behind the arc was not actually the story of this game, though.
The fact that WVU players somehow forgot what got them to a No. 7 ranking in the first place was the story.
The loose balls mostly went to Kansas. The hustle plays went to the Jayhawks, too.
“They were, for whatever reason, a lot quicker to the ball than we were today,” WVU head coach Bob Huggins said. “Very rarely when you’re on defense does the ball hit the rim and bounce right to you. We have to go rebound the ball. We didn’t go rebound the ball. We kind of stood around and they beat us to every loose ball.”
WVU was supposed to be this beast that could not be boxed out on the boards.
Yet, a smaller Kansas lineup was the better rebounding team Tuesday.
The Jayhawks were more athletic down low. They had more determination, more hustle, more heart.
“Honestly we were surprised,” WVU guard Deuce McBride said. “I don’t think they had gone much to offensive rebounding as much as they did today. That’s a lot on us not executing box-outs and not getting to the ball.”
With 7:37 remaining in the game, Kansas had missed a total of 28 shots, but grabbed 17 offensive rebounds.
If you’re big, bad West Virginia, that’s not supposed to happen.
The 3-pointers were killer, sure. Kansas’ 16 3-pointers were tied for the most given up by the Mountaineers in a single game … ever.
But, Kansas also had 25 second-chance points. That’s West Virginia’s game. That’s the reputation the Mountaineers have built this season.
Except you never saw it in this game, even during the first half that was competitive and fun to watch.
That first half was highlighted by Sean McNeil’s hot shooting touch, which was great to see, but it should have been highlighted by WVU flexing its muscle.
Derek Culver had a frustrating night. He finished with just eight points and eight rebounds.
Oscar Tshiebwe, who was dominant as a freshman playing at Allen Fieldhouse last season, was literally nowhere to be seen. That’s been a constant problem this season.
Culver was quoted earlier this season as saying Tshiebwe would quickly get things turned around.
Hasn’t happened yet, and this isn’t to sound like some sort of know-it-all guy, but Tshiebwe’s game to this point is anything but NBA ready.
“He’s not being as physical and he’s not running the way he did a year ago,” Huggins said. “I think that will change. I think he’ll snap out of it.”
West Virginia needed that tough and gritty Tshiebwe against the Jayhawks. The Mountaineers needed that big kid who just dunked on everyone a season ago.
Didn’t happen. Tshiebwe finished with three points and five rebounds.
Kansas guard Ochai Agbaji had five more rebounds than Tshiebwe, which kind of summed up this whole game.
Sometimes the bully gets punched in the nose. This time it just happened when WVU probably felt like it was the better team.
For the first 20 minutes, WVU was making a national statement against Kansas.
In the last 20 minutes, that statement became: The Mountaineers just weren’t tough enough.
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