Monday, January 1
Manhattan, Kan.
5:00 p.m.
West Virginia University
at
Kansas State
Huggins Moves Into 7th on NCAA Wins List, Eyes K-State Monday
December 31, 2017 12:04 PM | Men's Basketball
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - West Virginia puts its 12-game winning streak on the line early Monday evening at Kansas State in the second leg of the Mountaineers' two-game Big 12 road trip.
On Friday night, seventh-ranked West Virginia began conference play with a come-from-behind, 85-79 victory at Oklahoma State. Trailing 58-51 with 13 minutes remaining, WVU used a 10-0 run to retake the lead and then held off the Cowboys down the stretch to win its 12th game in a row since opening the season with a 23-point loss to Texas A&M in Germany, the longest winning streak for the Mountaineers since 2006 and the second-longest since 1989.
Freshman forward Teddy Allen came off the bench to lead six double-figure scorers with 15 points, 13 of those coming in the second half.
"Teddy did a good job," remarked West Virginia coach Bob Huggins, who moved past Jim Phelan into seventh place in all-time Division I victories with 831. "He made some good cuts and good reads."
Sophomore forward Sagaba Konate also played a strong second half and finished with 13 points and nine rebounds. Senior guards Jevon Carter and Daxter Miles Jr. contributed 12 each, but Carter made just 2 of 10 field goal attempts and had a career-high eight turnovers.
"(Carter) didn't play very well but the first thing he said when he goes into the locker room was, 'I didn't play very well and I'm sorry, but we won and I'm happy,'" Huggins said. "That's rhetoric for some people but he means it. He's a guy that loves to win."
The Mountaineers (12-1, 1-0) shot 52 percent (13 of 25) and had a 22-12 advantage on the glass in the second half after Oklahoma State staked out to a 46-39 halftime lead.
It was the fifth straight year the Mountaineers began Big 12 play with a road victory.
Meanwhile, the same night in Ames, Iowa, Kansas State (11-2, 1-0) was disposing Iowa State, 91-75.
Six-ten junior forward Dean Wade scored a career-high 34 points on 13-of-16 shooting, including a sizzling 6-of-8 from 3-point distance in a surprisingly easy K-State victory. The perimeter-oriented Wildcats shot 55.2 percent, including 60 percent in the second half, and limited the Cyclones to just 45.1 percent shooting on their home floor.
"To win road games you have to have somebody step up and be special and (Wade) was huge," Kansas State coach Bruce Weber said. "Shot it with confidence; played with confidence; wanted the ball and asked out when he got tired."
Seventy-eight of K-State's 91 points came from just three players. In addition to Wade's 34, 6-foot guard Kamau Stokes scored 23 and 6-foot-3 guard Barry Brown added 21.
"Cam and Barry were pretty special, too," Weber said. "The three guys that have the experience made the plays."
All three are averaging right around 15 points per game - Brown at 14.9; Stokes and Wade at 14.8 each.
Kansas State's two losses this year were against third-ranked Arizona State, 92-90, and at home to Tulsa, 61-54. The Wildcats (are averaging 77.8 points and allowing 63.2 points per game this season.
Kansas State has led at halftime in all 13 games it has played this season.
"The big key to the game was our defense to start the second half," Weber said. "Defense was optional for both teams in the first half, 53-50, but we got some shutouts and somebody said field goals were 1-for-11 at one stretch for them … And then I thought we a great job of getting to the paint either to score or to kick it out."
West Virginia lost last year's meeting to K-State in Bramlage Coliseum, 79-75. Stokes, Brown and Wade were all factors in that victory, scoring 15, 15 and 14 points respectively. The Mountaineers won the rematch in Morgantown, 85-66, and also captured the Big 12 Tournament semifinal game, 51-50, when Stokes missed a game-winning 3 with one second remaining.
Monday's game will tip at 5 p.m. and will be televised nationally on ESPNU. The Mountaineer Sports Network from IMG's coverage begins at 4 p.m. on stations throughout West Virginia, online via WVUsports.com as well as the popular mobile app TuneIn.
WVU begins conference play at home on Saturday, Jan. 6, against 12th-ranked Oklahoma and its sensational freshman guard Trae Young, currently leading the country in scoring with an average of 29.6 points per game.
He scored 39 points and handed out 14 assists in OU's come-from-behind, 90-89 victory at 10th-ranked TCU Saturday.
That game has already been announced a sellout.
On Friday night, seventh-ranked West Virginia began conference play with a come-from-behind, 85-79 victory at Oklahoma State. Trailing 58-51 with 13 minutes remaining, WVU used a 10-0 run to retake the lead and then held off the Cowboys down the stretch to win its 12th game in a row since opening the season with a 23-point loss to Texas A&M in Germany, the longest winning streak for the Mountaineers since 2006 and the second-longest since 1989.
Freshman forward Teddy Allen came off the bench to lead six double-figure scorers with 15 points, 13 of those coming in the second half.
"Teddy did a good job," remarked West Virginia coach Bob Huggins, who moved past Jim Phelan into seventh place in all-time Division I victories with 831. "He made some good cuts and good reads."
Sophomore forward Sagaba Konate also played a strong second half and finished with 13 points and nine rebounds. Senior guards Jevon Carter and Daxter Miles Jr. contributed 12 each, but Carter made just 2 of 10 field goal attempts and had a career-high eight turnovers.
"(Carter) didn't play very well but the first thing he said when he goes into the locker room was, 'I didn't play very well and I'm sorry, but we won and I'm happy,'" Huggins said. "That's rhetoric for some people but he means it. He's a guy that loves to win."
The Mountaineers (12-1, 1-0) shot 52 percent (13 of 25) and had a 22-12 advantage on the glass in the second half after Oklahoma State staked out to a 46-39 halftime lead.
It was the fifth straight year the Mountaineers began Big 12 play with a road victory.
Meanwhile, the same night in Ames, Iowa, Kansas State (11-2, 1-0) was disposing Iowa State, 91-75.
Six-ten junior forward Dean Wade scored a career-high 34 points on 13-of-16 shooting, including a sizzling 6-of-8 from 3-point distance in a surprisingly easy K-State victory. The perimeter-oriented Wildcats shot 55.2 percent, including 60 percent in the second half, and limited the Cyclones to just 45.1 percent shooting on their home floor.
"To win road games you have to have somebody step up and be special and (Wade) was huge," Kansas State coach Bruce Weber said. "Shot it with confidence; played with confidence; wanted the ball and asked out when he got tired."
Seventy-eight of K-State's 91 points came from just three players. In addition to Wade's 34, 6-foot guard Kamau Stokes scored 23 and 6-foot-3 guard Barry Brown added 21.
"Cam and Barry were pretty special, too," Weber said. "The three guys that have the experience made the plays."
All three are averaging right around 15 points per game - Brown at 14.9; Stokes and Wade at 14.8 each.
Kansas State's two losses this year were against third-ranked Arizona State, 92-90, and at home to Tulsa, 61-54. The Wildcats (are averaging 77.8 points and allowing 63.2 points per game this season.
Kansas State has led at halftime in all 13 games it has played this season.
"The big key to the game was our defense to start the second half," Weber said. "Defense was optional for both teams in the first half, 53-50, but we got some shutouts and somebody said field goals were 1-for-11 at one stretch for them … And then I thought we a great job of getting to the paint either to score or to kick it out."
West Virginia lost last year's meeting to K-State in Bramlage Coliseum, 79-75. Stokes, Brown and Wade were all factors in that victory, scoring 15, 15 and 14 points respectively. The Mountaineers won the rematch in Morgantown, 85-66, and also captured the Big 12 Tournament semifinal game, 51-50, when Stokes missed a game-winning 3 with one second remaining.
Monday's game will tip at 5 p.m. and will be televised nationally on ESPNU. The Mountaineer Sports Network from IMG's coverage begins at 4 p.m. on stations throughout West Virginia, online via WVUsports.com as well as the popular mobile app TuneIn.
WVU begins conference play at home on Saturday, Jan. 6, against 12th-ranked Oklahoma and its sensational freshman guard Trae Young, currently leading the country in scoring with an average of 29.6 points per game.
He scored 39 points and handed out 14 assists in OU's come-from-behind, 90-89 victory at 10th-ranked TCU Saturday.
That game has already been announced a sellout.
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