Turnovers, free throws key in knocking off Kansas
No. 18 West Virginia continued its home dominance over the No. 2 Kansas Jayhawks with the help of free throws and turnovers, which were the deciding factors in the win.
The win over Kansas culminated a week’s worth of struggles and frustration in which the Mountaineers barely escaped a below .500 Texas team and then dropped back-to-back games to unranked opponents as a ranked team for the first time since the 2005-2006 season.
Just one week after forcing 29 turnovers against previously top-ranked Baylor, the Mountaineers only forced 28 turnovers combined in their losses to Oklahoma and Kansas State. West Virginia also turned the ball over a total of 36 times themselves, losing the turnover battle in both matchups.
The struggles at the free throw line, continued for the Mountaineers against Oklahoma as the team shot just 62% in the overtime loss. West Virginia though showed much improvement at the free throw line against the Wildcats as the team shot 88%.
It was hard to say which West Virginia team would show up against the No. 2 Jayhawks but it seemed as if a completely different team took the floor than what was seen in the past two games.
“I told them in April we can’t turn the ball over and we have to make free throws,” West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins said.
The Mountaineers did just that.
Press Virginia’s ability to generate turnovers and the team’s improvement at the free throw line were the keys to an upset victory against Kansas.
Overall, the Mountaineers forced 13 Kansas turnovers while committing eight and shot over 80% at the free throw line for the second straight game. The Jayhawks also 40% from the free throw line, the team’s lowest since its matchup against Iowa State nearly two weeks ago.
Perhaps the most critical aspect of the game for West Virginia was capitalizing off of the Kansas turnovers and giving themselves more possessions. 19 points came from the 13 turnovers by the Jayhawks.
“We turned it over 23 times in Manhattan (Kansas). That’s 15 less possessions than what you get when you turn it over eight times. That’s a lot of possessions.”
The key for West Virginia going forward is developing consistency not only in these two areas but its game overall. The Mountaineers cannot afford to repeat last week’s cycle which is beating a top-five team and then struggling in what look to be winnable games immediately after.
A good thing about the win over Kansas is that it may be enough to give the team its confidence back and the spark that they needed. The previous two losses may have actually been a positive thing for the Mountaineers as it gave the team a wakeup call and the reality that each game gets harder as the season goes on no matter who they face.
The Mountaineers have also showed the nation that they can compete with any team and are still a top-contender this season but in order to solidify that message, West Virginia must continue to play at the level they played at in games such as Baylor and Kansas this Saturday against Texas A&M and for the rest of Big 12 play.
“We’re one of the top teams too,” sophomore forward Esa Ahmad said. “We just got to bring it every night. If the team’s below .500, you can’t let up. You got to keep going.”