Late comeback falls short in 65-63 West Virginia loss to Kansas State
West Virginia came unglued early in the second half and couldn’t make up the difference with a furious comeback attempt in a 65-63 loss to Kansas State inside Bramlage Coliseum Tuesday night.
The Mountaineers fell to 17-13, 8-9 in the Big 12 Conference and allowed the Wildcats to use a 21-0 run to seize control in the second half and deal West Virginia a tough blow for their resume.
West Virginia led the contest 26-23 at half, but Kansas State created distance in the second and a late run that got it as close as a single possession was not enough in the end.
Forward Chance Moore scored 18 points, forward Brenen Lorient scored 14 points, forward DJ Thomas had 12 points and guard Honor Huff had 11 points.
Both teams were scoreless through the first two plus minutes of the game but the Mountaineers would get on the board first with a free throw at the 17:11 mark. The Wildcats would hit a pair on the other end to take the lead at 2-1 as both teams started a combined 0-12 from the floor.
Moore would make the first field goal of the game on the next trip down the floor to give the Mountaineers a 3-2 lead but the Wildcats would take it back on their possession. West Virginia would tie the game at five of their second basket of the game, but again Kansas State would respond with a three to move ahead.
Moore would hit a three-ball to give the Mountaineers the lead back at 9-8 and West Virginia would add another three baskets close to the rim to seize a 15-8 edge with 8:10 remaining to complete a 10-0 run.
The Wildcats would then cut into the lead with a three to make it 17-13 as both teams continued slow out of the gate with just 6:11 remaining in the half. Thomas hit for his 10th points of the half on a three to give the Mountaineers a 22-15 lead, but on the other end the Wildcats would respond with one of their own.
The Wildcats kept the game close trailing just 26-23 heading into the halftime break. The two would would exchange baskets to open the half and after a turnover the Wildcats would trim it to 28-27. The Mountaineers would then hit a three-pointer to stop the mini-run to move back ahead 31-27.
Kansas State would then reel off four-straight to tie the game at 31 and force a timeout from Ross Hodge with 16:31 remaining in the game. The Wildcats would then wrestle the lead back on a free throw as the Mountaineers sputtered early in the second half.
The run would go to 15-0 from Kansas State as the lead grew to 42-31 with under 14 minutes remaining. The Mountaineers went over seven minutes without a basket and had six turnovers allowing Kansas State to build their largest lead of the game at 48-31.
Thomas would finally end the run after 21 straight from the Wildcats. The Mountaineers would cut the deficit to 50-36 after a three-pointer but Kansas State would again respond to push it back out to 55-36.
West Virginia was able to use a quick 11-0 spurt to cut the deficit to 57-49 with 4:20 left in the game. But again the Wildcats would respond with a three-pointer to push the deficit back out to 60-49.
West Virginia would get the score to down to 61-56 with 59 seconds remaining and after a turnover the Mountaineers added a pair of free throws to make it a one possession game at 61-58. The Wildcats would turn the ball over again giving West Virginia another opportunity but they would be unsuccessful.
Huff would nail a three at the end to make the final score 65-53.
West Virginia will now close the regular season by hosting UCF Friday night inside Hope Coliseum.
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