WVU falls short in 65-64 loss to No. 18 K-State

Close games have become a common occurrence for the West Virginia men’s basketball team.

Fresh off of an overtime road victory against Texas, West Virginia trailed No. 18 Kansas State 65-64 with less than 10 seconds to play.

"(We tried to) run the play we ran for Da’Sean (Butler) when he made five game-winning shots," said West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins. "I don’t know (what happened). I’ll have to look at the tape. I just know we didn’t get it."

The Wildcats were able to deflect the attempted inbounds pass and force the Mountaineers to scramble for a last-second attempt by Gary Browne, which fell short, giving Kansas State (13-2, 2-0) a 65-64 victory against West Virginia (8-7, 1-2) in front of 10,039 fans at the Coliseum Saturday night.

"I thought we competed, for the most part. The problem is we don’t do it for a consistent period of time," Huggins said. "Overall, I think we did."

Sophomore guard Jabarie Hinds led the Mountaineers with 15 points of 6-of-10 shooting, while junior center Aaric Murray and freshman guard Terry Henderson scored 11 and 10 points, respectively.

"It was a physical game," Hinds said. "Everybody wanted it. But unfortunately, we came out a little bit short at the end."

Kansas State was in foul trouble throughout the game, but 17 points from Shane Southwell and Rodney McGruder were enough to push them over the top.

"I don’t make excuses," Huggins said. "We started two sophomores and a freshman on the perimeter. Our first sub off the bench was a freshman. We make some mistakes because we’re young."

The normal starting point guard, sophomore Juwan Staten, who didn’t play the second half against Texas, didn’t see the floor against the Wildcats.

"He’s going to get on the same page as me, or he’s not going to play anymore," Huggins said.

West Virginia’s telling stat was shooting 54 percent from the free-throw line, going 12-for-22.

"It’s a matter of us just staying focused," said senior forward Dominique Rutledge. "If we play the whole 40 minutes, we can beat anybody in the country."

The Mountaineers have lost two of their first three conference games to begin the season and will now travel to the Midwest for road games against Iowa State and Purdue.

"We played hard. We probably had every chance to win," Huggins said. "And, honestly, we’re not getting out of some people what we need to get out of them."