MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia and Kansas have produced some compelling basketball games at the WVU Coliseum since 2013 when the Mountaineers first began playing in the Big 12.
 
The Jayhawks' first trip to Morgantown on Jan. 28, 2013 saw them pull out a closer-than expected 61-56 victory over a Mountaineer team one game below .500 at 9-10.
 
A year later, on March 8, 2014, West Virginia used a combined 74 points from Eron Harris, Juwan Staten and freshman forward Devin Williams to stun eighth-ranked Kansas 92-86, despite a 41-point performance from fabulous Jayhawk freshman Andrew Wiggins.
 
In 2015, the Mountaineers once again came out on top in a heart-stopping, down-to-the-wire ending that saw Staten hit a spinning layup with 3.9 seconds remaining just ahead of Perry Ellis' shot attempt ahead of the buzzer that bounced off the back of the rim.
 
West Virginia's third straight victory over Kansas at the Coliseum happened on Jan. 12, 2016 and was just the second time ever the Mountaineers defeated a No. 1 in Morgantown.
 
Guard Jaysean Paige was the star of the game with his 26 points coming off the bench being the deciding factor in the Mountaineers' 74-63 victory.
 
Two years ago, West Virginia again knocked off Kansas and this time it was in convincing fashion, 85-69. Forward Esa Ahmad played the game of his life with 27 points on 10-of-17 shooting while Kansas hit 42.3 percent from the floor and just 40 percent from the free throw line.
 
Last year, it was Kansas' Svi Mykhailiuk and Devonte Graham making big shot after big shot down the stretch to lead the Jayhawks to a satisfying, 71-66 victory in a battle of top-10-ranked teams.
 
"They wanted it bad," Kansas coach Bill Self said afterward.
 
We know the seventh-ranked Jayhawks are going to bring it on Saturday afternoon. The question is: will West Virginia bring it, too?
 
The Mountaineers (8-9, 0-5) are going to need to put forth a far better effort than what they did in Fort Worth, Texas, earlier this week if they want to keep the home folks interested.
 
"We have to do a much better job with the ball, make some open shots and make some free throws," Huggins said.
 
West Virginia's 31-point loss at TCU was its worst since joining the Big 12 in 2013, as is its 0-5 start in league play. The last time the Mountaineers were below .500 this late in the season was in 2013 when they dropped seven straight to end the year 13-19.
 
That was Huggins' worst season at West Virginia, and it prompted massive personnel and philosophical changes resulting in what became known as "Press Virginia" after Huggins' offseason visit with former Cleveland State coach Kevin Mackey.
 
If West Virginia can't get things turned around soon, Huggins may be headed down a similar path at the end of this season.
 
Beating Kansas (15-2, 4-1) will be no small feat, even on the home floor. The Jayhawks already boast Quadrant 1 wins over Tennessee, Michigan State, Oklahoma, Marquette, TCU, Villanova, Wofford and Baylor, with four of those coming away from Allen Fieldhouse.
 
That's the most of any team in the country right now.
 
KU is the only team in the Big 12 with two players ranked in the top six in the conference in scoring in forward Dedric Lawson (19.2 ppg.) and guard Lagerald Vick (15.2 ppg.), and it is an impressive 90-39 in Big 12 road games under Self.
 
Morgantown, West Virginia, is really the only place Kansas has struggled as the Jayhawks have gone 2-4 here since 2013.
 
For the Mountaineers to pin loss No. 5 at the Coliseum on Kansas, a lot of things are going to have to go right that haven't been going right lately in order for that to happen.
 
West Virginia needs to get more consistent performances from its top scorers, Esa Ahmad (12.8 ppg.), Beetle Bolden (12.2 ppg.) and Lamont West (11.4 ppg.), it has to shoot better than it has in its last five games and it needs to do a better job hanging onto the basketball.
 
Figuring out a way to slow down dribble-drive penetration and covering open 3-point shooters would be helpful, too.
 
"I think we will compete," Huggins said. "(Tuesday night's loss) was one of those, whatever can go bad will go bad. They made shots and every time we made a mistake they made us pay for it."
 
A 2 p.m. tipoff has been assigned for Saturday's game, to be televised nationally on ESPN.
 
The Mountaineer Sports Network from IMG's radio coverage begins at 1 p.m. on affiliates throughout West Virginia.
 


Pregame Notes: In addition to ESPN's national coverage, the Westwood One Radio Network (John Sadak and Will Perdue) will carry the game nationally … Kansas is 1-2 in true road games this year, but is 3-0 at neutral site venues … Kansas leads the series 10-4, with all four losses coming in Morgantown … Injured Mountaineer forward Sagaba Konate was on the floor shooting baskets before the team began practicing Friday, although he was not jumping when taking shots … Huggins, who was asked if he dared envision a front line one day consisting of Konate, forward Derek Culver and highly touted prep forward Oscar Tshiebwe, who signed to play for the Mountaineers next season, joked "That might get me through the rest of the year." … Huggins said Jermaine Haley did not practice yesterday … Haley injured his hand in the second half of Tuesday night's loss at TCU … The veteran coach said the effort was good for Thursday's practice after coming off the blowout loss at TCU … Kansas sophomore guard Marcus Garrett is coming off a career-high 20 points in KU's 80-78 victory over Texas on Monday night … It was Kansas' 31^st-straight ESPN Big Monday victory in Lawrence.