The Kansas Jayhawks dug deep to come from behind to steal a win from West Virginia heading into a tough three-game stretch.
The Kansas Jayhawks are trying to break an NCAA record by winning a 14th straight Big 12 regular season title. In order to do that they’ll have to endure the toughest three-game stretch they’ll face all season. It started on a Saturday evening in Allen Fieldhouse against West Virginia.
The Mountaineers came into Lawrence seeking revenge for the Jayhawks stealing one on their home court, and they looked like they were going to get their revenge. With 10 minutes left in the game West Virginia led by 12 points and couldn’t miss from downtown.
West Virginia shot 54 percent from deep on Saturday while the Jayhawks only shot 31 percent. Daxter Miles alone shot 6-of-9 from downtown and finished the game with 22 points. In the end though, the power of Allen Fieldhouse proved to be too much for the Mountaineers.
This was reminiscent of last years matchup in Lawrence where West Virginia surrendered a double-digit lead with barely three minutes left in the game. Jayhawk fans were filing out of the arena early until KU quickly erased that deficit and stole one away from WVU.
The MVP of Saturday’s matchup was without a doubt Udoka Azubuike. He thoroughly dominated Sagaba Konate, and held him to only nine points on 4-of-10 shooting. On the other , nd Azubuike finished with 21 points, and even finished 7-of-10 from the free throw line. He even threw in three blocks just for good measure. It was by far the best game he’s played in a Jayhawk uniform.
Senior guard Devonte’ Graham played all 40 minutes once again, and has only sat a total of 30 seconds in the past four games because Bill Self can’t afford to sit him. Graham finished with 15 points, eight rebounds and seven assists and he only shot the ball six times which isn’t enough.
What’s plagued Kansas all season was that even though they play fairly solid defense they just don’t get stops when they need them. Saturday they got the stops they needed and then some. After falling behind 58-46 with 10:20 left in the second half the Jayhawks outscored the Mountaineers 31-11 the rest of the way.
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KU is currently in a stretch where they’ll play West Virginia, Oklahoma and Texas Tech in succession. Those three games could very well determine whether or not they’ll get a 14th straight conference title.
Even though Oklahoma has lost six games in a row, Trae Young can go off for a 40 point performance and ruin anyone’s night. Considering Kansas handed Oklahoma the game in Norman a few weeks ago, you can bet they won’t make the same mistakes this time around.
Texas Tech lost to Baylor on Saturday as well so now the Red Raiders and Jayhawks are tied atop the Big 12 standings and their matchup could very well decide the fate of the Big 12.