WVU to travel to face Kansas
Published: Thursday, February 7, 2013
Updated: Thursday, February 7, 2013 23:02
The Jayhawks (14-7, 5-5) bested West Virginia 60-59 in Morgantown Jan. 5 but have lost five of eight games since. The Mountaineers were riding a two-game winning streak into Lubbock, Texas, but shooting woes doomed a shot at a third consecutive victory.
Head coach Mike Carey said a combination of poor shooting and lack of energy were key culprits behind the Mountaineers’ loss.
"We had good looks and missed a bunch of them, and we’ve been shooting the ball pretty well," he said. "We just looked slow, even when we were pressing them. We were reaching out and not moving our feet, and it carried over to the offensive side."
The Mountaineers missed 31 shots in the first half alone and finished the game shooting 25-of-71 from the field.
In the two teams’ previous matchup, West Virginia and Kansas were similarly
effective on the offensive end, connecting on 42 and 40 percent of shots, respectively.
Kansas senior forward Carolyn Davis delivered the fatal blow in that game, netting the go-ahead layup with 42 seconds remaining.
Davis is the Big 12’s sixth leading scorer and averages 15.2 points per game. Senior guard Angel Goodrich led the Jayhawks in scoring in the first matchup with 16 points.
Junior guard Taylor Palmer led West Virginia in scoring in the loss with a game-high 24 points. Palmer is averaging just more than nine points per game this season, but in the Mountaineers’ loss to Texas Tech, Palmer notched a team-high 19 points.
The game figures to be critical in the race for the postseason, as the Mountaineers only have six remaining games before the Big 12 Conference tournament. Three of those games are on the road, and another is in Morgantown against No. 1 Baylor.
Kansas has lost five games since it defeated West Virginia by an average margin of 20 points. The Jayhawks did defeat Texas handily in Lawrence with a 76-38 win and bested Iowa State and Kansas State in overtime.
The Jayhawks are 11-2 at home this season and own a 3-2 home record against conference foes. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m.
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