LAWRENCE, Kan. — West Virginia coach Darian DeVries walked into the Allen Fieldhouse interview room Tuesday wearing a shirt that read “No excuses,” even though he would have had plenty if Kansas , seventh, had finished a frantic second period. rally.
Instead, the Mountaineers beat the Jayhawks for the first time in 12 tries at the Phog.
No apology necessary.
The game was decided when Javon Small made the second of two free throws with 1.8 seconds remaining, and the Jayhawks’ KJ Adams missed a contested shot at the other end at the buzzer, allowing West Virginia to escape with the 62-61 victory. But what made it even more impressive was the fact that second-leading scorer Tucker DeVries and third-leading scorer Amani Hansberry were injured, and the Mountaineers had all kinds of trouble getting to the game.
Their Monday afternoon flight experienced mechanical problems, forcing the charter company to use another plane. They were supposed to arrive in Kansas around 5:30 p.m., but landed early Tuesday morning.
Oh, and then their hotel briefly lost power. So the Mountaineers didn’t get much sleep before their Big 12 opener.
“It was a tough day of travel,” DeVries admitted. “It was a tough day of travel, but like I told the guys, injuries, flight delays, those are things you can’t control. Understand it. I thought the guys did a good job.
However, we can say that they will not stay up late to celebrate the new year.
“We need to get some sleep tonight,” DeVries said.
It should be relaxing.
Kansas hadn’t lost a conference opener since Jan. 8, 1991, and the Phog was full of energy despite the fact that the vast majority of students were still on winter break. But it was the tired and jet-lagged Mountaineers, who skipped their shootaround to get a little more rest, who took a big early lead, eventually pushing it to 18 points in the opening minutes of the second half. .
“That’s as miserable an offensive team as I’ve seen play in this building in 22 years. It was horrible,” Jayhawks coach Bill Self said of his own team, which was preseason No. 1 in the AP Top 25 but is now 9-3 for the season. first time since the 1991-92 season.
West Virginia was much better on offense, dishing out 18 assists on 26 field goals, which helped make up for a 6-for-20 day from the 3-point arc. On defense, the Mountaineers managed to hound All-American center Hunter Dickinson, who finished with just 10 points on 4-of-10 shooting, and kept the Jayhawks from getting into an offensive flow.
And when Kansas did, ripping off a 15-2 run in the second half to get back into the game, West Virginia continued to find an answer.
The Jayhawks pulled within 50-48 when KJ Tenner hit a jumper and former Kansas guard Joseph Yesufu buried a 3. And they got within 59-58 with 36 seconds left when Small got to the line. fouls and made both free throws. .
The biggest answer came at the end: Zeke Mayo, who led Kansas with 27 points, converted a three-point play to tie the game at 61 with 16 seconds left. Small recovered the ball on the other and was fouled by Kansas freshman Flory Bidunga with 1.8 seconds left, and he followed up with a miss on his first attempted three throws while calmly swinging the second to regain the advantage.
Adams may have been fouled on his shot at the buzzer, but the officials simply shook their heads as he pleaded his case.
“When you lose, we all tend to (complain) about officiating,” Self said, “and when you win, sometimes you take for granted that maybe you got a friendly whistle. The play at the end, it’s probably a foul early in the game, but I’m not sure there are many people who would call a foul on that last possession.
The officials admitted to Self that they committed a backcourt violation that gave West Virginia possession in the second half.
“The problem is that there is 1 second left. You probably won’t get that call,” Self continued. “I’m not going to dwell on not getting that call. I’m going to focus on the fact that we’re not playing as well as we could have played.
West Virginia had a lot to do with that in the opening game of their 20-game Big 12 series.
Now, the Mountaineers will ring in the new year — if they can stay awake — with a lot more joy than the Jayhawks.
“I doubt people will be counting down tonight at 11:59,” Self said. “We will bounce back but we are down. The league is a monster and to win this league, we’re going to have to hold service at home, and we couldn’t do that.
