(Bob Huggins postgame Zoom conference)
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia followed up their most productive first half on offense in over two months with a second half performance that has become habit through their Big 12 schedule. The Mountaineers went 0-2 on a critical road trip with a 78-73 loss to Kansas State Monday night at Bramlage Coliseum.
“I am the worst loser in the world but I am proud of them today,” said WVU head coach Bob Huggins. “I thought we competed. We could have given up several times but they didn’t. We missed some easy shots. We missed some key shots. But we didn’t quit.”
West Virginia took the lead three minutes into the first half and held the advantage into intermission. Taz Sherman and Jalen Bridges scored on consecutive possessions, giving WVU a 10-6 lead at the first media timeout.
With 1:20 remaining in the first half, Kobe Johnson connected on a 3-pointer and Kedrian Johnson followed with a jumper to give the Mountaineers their largest lead of the half at 42-33. WVU led 42-35 at halftime.
Six Mountaineers scored in the opening half, led by Sherman’s 15-point effort. WVU went 10-for-11 from the free throw line in the opening 20 minutes. The 42 first-half points were the most for West Virginia since the Radford game on December 4.
West Virginia extended their lead to double digits in the opening minute of the second half when Isaiah Cottrell connected on a triple, giving WVU a 45-35 cushion. Cottrell would score five more points before the first media timeout of the half.
Trailing 54-44, K-State went on an 11-0 run to take their first lead since the opening minute of the game. A Nigel Pack layup tied the game at 54, forcing Bob Huggins to call a timeout with 12:45 left.
A pair of free throws from Sherman gave West Virginia a 56-55 lead. However, the Wildcats scored the next seven points to jump ahead, 62-56 with eight minutes to play.
With West Virginia’s deficit at nine points with 6:20 to play, the Mountaineers broke a field goal drought of nearly ten minutes when Kedrian Johnson scored on a layup. WVU went 0-for-10 from the floor in that stretch. West Virginia pulled within seven points at 67-60.
“It is always frustrating. You are in a drought, not scoring and not getting stops,” said WVU guard Kedrian Johnson. It is just mistakes that we made. We have to try our best to clean up those mistakes and not let that happen.”
Kansas State led 74-66 with 3:30 left before the Mountaineers responded with a 7-0 run. A Sherman baseline jumper pulled WVU within a point at 74-73. On K-State’s next possession however, Ismael Massoud was fouled attempting a three-pointer. He made all three free throws to extend the KSU lead to four points. WVU did not score in the final 2:28.
“Those were big opportunities we missed,” Johnson said. “With the game being so close, when the game is going down to the wire like that, we need every possession. If you lose a possession, that could determine the game. But that wasn’t the case. We just constantly made mistakes.”
West Virginia has been outscored in the second half in eight of their last ten games.
Sophomore forward Isaiah Cottrell scored a career-high 13 points on 5-for-14 shooting from the floor.
“He is getting better,” Huggins said. “He is working at it. Those are really the first jump hooks that he made or really the first power moves that he has made that were successful. We knew he could shoot the ball from three. When you haven’t played a lot of games at this level, sometimes you hurry things.”
Kedrian Johnson scored 15 points, his second-highest scoring output of the season. Jalen Bridges scored nine points and pulled down a team-high ten rebounds.
Markquis Nowell led the Wildcats (14-11, 6-7 Big 12) with 21 points. Mark Smith scored 17 and Massoud added 13.
Gabe Osabuohien, who received three technical fouls in the last two games, was kept out of the lineup by Huggins.
“We don’t have room in our program for Gabe’s actions,” Huggins said. “If that was a first, I mean okay, okay you lost it. Understand you can’t do that anymore. But it wasn’t the first one. It wasn’t the first time.”
West Virginia (14-11, 3-9 Big 12) is now tied with Iowa State for last place in the Big 12. They will host league-leading Kansas (21-4, 10-2 Big 12) Saturday night. Once 13-2, the Mountaineers have lost nine of their last ten games.
Coming off an 81-58 loss at Oklahoma State on Saturday, the Mountaineers stood 70th in the NCAA NET rankings.
“We just have to move forward and look at the bigger picture,” Johnson said. “We are still playing. We still have NCAA Tournament hopes. That’s the main goal.”
“I think we are going in the right direction,” Huggins said. We’ve got six or seven more games in the league. We need to do what we are supposed to do.”
