The Diehard Breakdown: #11 WVU 74 #1KANSAS 63

[WvuDieHard]

There might have been a Blizzard outside the Coliseum tonight that kept a few fans away but the real storm was on the court and that was the WV Press Defense. The Mountaineers forced the Jayhawks into 22 turnovers in route to a victory over the #1 ranked team in college basketball. 33 years ago I remember camping out to get a front row seat so I could see Greg Jones and WV beat UNLV. Tonight, history was made again. The singing of Country Roads rang throughout the Coliseum as the ESPN audience got to see the fans rush the floor and the wave the state flag. Kansas did not look like the #1 team tonight but I think WV had a lot to do with that. After WVU got down 5 points, they battled out to a 8 point halftime lead. They open the 2nd half with a 6-1 run to push the lead to 13 pts with 16:32 left in the contest. Kansas got back to within 4 points at the 13:42 mark when WV went on a 17-10 run to put the game out of reach for KU.

Another outstanding performance by Jaysean Paige who finished with 26 points and connected on 14-17 free throws while collecting 5 steals. Devin Williams had 17pts and 12 rebounds while D. Carter goes for 10 points. Wv wins the battle of the glass 41-39 but had 15 offensive rebounds.

What a great game? Even if you are not a WV fan, you had to enjoy the underdog playing hard and winning. This team is getting better because it is finding ways to score. If they can protect the ball better, they are gonna be a tough out in March. Too deep off the bench and just plain good defensively. I looked at a stat that really tells the tale here: Bench scoring WV 40 KU 10. That just wears you down and is confusing for the opponent because you can't focus on one player. I look forward to watching this team mature because it is better than last year's and it has really started to blossom over the last 3-4 games. We will have a tough one Saturday on the road against #2 OU and Buddy Heild (probably the player of year in College basketball) but I will guarantee you one thing--this group will come to play and press for 40 minutes. Have a great day Mountaineer fans wherever your Country Road has taken you this cold and blustery evening!

 

[bbwvfan]

Let's hear it for Bob Huggins as West Virginia upsets top-ranked Kansas

Great win... and really dominated them for 2/3 of the game.

I thought there were 3 keys to the win last night. The half court defense was the best I've seen from a WVU team since the Final 4 group. KU may not have any superstars... but, as we have seen from them this year.. they didn't come into this game with the nation's highest scoring average as a fluke. There were more than a few KU possessions in the 2nd half they could not get off a decent shot.

WVU's guards did a great job of taking care of the ball. I think they had 11 TO's. Carter may have had his best performance as a Mountaineer last night. If he can continue this play, I will become a believer in this team.

Huggy has coached his boys/guards up real good. He is running 4 out/high post more often... running weave... to take advantage of the rule changes. To start the season, the guards were hesitant as a group to dribble penetrate. But, the last 3 games... you have seen them respond to his pleas from the sideline. They are attacking the rim. Wanny was great at doing so a couple of years ago when the NCAA had placed these rule changes into effect... but, officials stopped calling fouls late in that season.

With this attack... WVU can survive a poor shooting night like last nights. Not many would have thought you'd beat a team like KU shooting 33% from the floor... shooting 25% from beyond the arc.

 

[Slaton10]

I understand the rankings going into the game..and so yes on paper it says upset...but in my opinion without a doubt the better team won..they beat Kansas in every phase of the game last night..totally dominated them...an upset in my mind is a last minute fluky three point shot at the buzzer..last night was an ass kicking.Holden is a one man wrecking crew the kid is so long that it seems like no team has the ability set up their offense when he is on the floor...major factor come tourney time..