Box Score MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Sean McNeil's career-high-tying 26 points helped West Virginia down undermanned Kansas State 71-68 in Saturday afternoon Big 12 men's basketball action at the WVU Coliseum.
 
The Wildcats (8-6, 0-3) were without head coach Bruce Weber, assistant coaches Chris Lowery and Shane Southwell, and bigs Kaosi Ezeagu and Logan Landers for today's game because of COVID-19 issues, but they came out firing in the first half.
 
K-State scored 23 of the game's first 29 points behind the 3-point shooting Nijel Pack, Mark Smith and Ismael Massoud. Kansas State was 9-of-19 from behind the arc to build a 40-27 halftime lead.
 
"We've got over half new guys and the new guys have got to understand how hard this league is that anybody who comes in here can beat you," said West Virginia coach Bob Huggins, who earned career win No. 912 today. "I think more importantly than that, how hard we have to play here – and we do play hard. 
 
"We don't have the McDonald's All-Americans," he continued. "We have the guys who come in here and really want to play, want to win and lay it out there. We kind of got away from that during that week off and I think it's better when we're playing every two or three days."
 
Early in the second half, West Virginia (12-2, 1-1) finally woke up after Massoud's dunk, McNeil starting an 8-0 run with a jumper to reduce the Wildcats' lead to 42-27. A McNeil 3 from about 25 feet made it a two-point game, and his follow-up of Kedrian Johnson's missed layup tied the game at 50.
 
Another McNeil 3, a pair of Taz Sherman triples and a McNeil jumper from the elbow gave West Virginia its biggest lead of the game at eight points with 5:49 to go. The WVU run during this 3:47 stretch was 15-3.
 
But then a couple of empty possessions opened the door for Kansas State to battle back. The Mountaineer advantage was down to 62-60 with 3:53 left when McNeil hit another bomb.
 
Pack answered with his sixth triple and from here it turned into a free throw shooting game for the Mountaineers.
 
McNeil got a pair to go down with 1:24 left, Kedrian Johnson made his two with 15 seconds remaining and Jalen Bridges converted two big ones with four seconds showing on the clock after Massoud banked in a 3 from the corner.
 
Jermaine Henderson, serving as Kansas State's head coach for today's game, called timeout after Bridges made his first free throw to try and ice him. The stoppage ended up being a good three or four minutes while game officials Rick Crawford, James Breeding and Bret Smith had a discussion on the floor before finally handing the ball back to Bridges for his second free throw. He made it and Markquis Nowell's running 3-point shot attempt from beyond the top of the key to try and tie the game grazed the front of the rim and fell to the ground. 
 
Overall, West Virginia was 12 of 17 from the free throw line.
 
McNeil scored 19 of his game-high 26 points after intermission while connecting on 9-of-15 from the floor. Sherman, back in the starting lineup after missing the Texas game because of COVID-19 protocols, contributed 14 points on 5-of-13 shooting. 
 
Kedrian Johnson added 11.
 
"I thought Kedy was terrific. Taz, coming off a week or so of not being able to do anything, hit two huge shots and they did a great job on Sean and in the end Sean made some big shots for us," Huggins said.
 
Gabe Osabuohien was also out for the Texas loss and contributed a basket, an assist and a block to go with a career-high-tying 12 rebounds.
 
"Our defense is so much better when Gabe is in the game," Huggins noted.
 
Pack's 20 points for Kansas State came on 7-of-18 shooting, including 6-of-15 from 3. Missouri transfer Mark Smith contributed 14, Massoud had 13 and Nowell finished with 10 points and 10 assists.
 
Kansas State ended the game shooting just 37.3% (25 of 67) from the floor.
 
The Mountaineers shot 50% in the second half (16 of 32) while connecting on 41.3% overall. WVU had a 42-39 advantage in rebounding and an 11-6 edge in bench scoring.
 
Kansas State led for more than 30 minutes of today's contest.
 
Backup guard Malik Curry appeared to turn an ankle late in the second half and had to be helped off the floor. He returned to the bench using crutches. 
 
West Virginia was playing just its second game since defeating Youngstown State 82-52 back on Dec. 22.
 
"We've had a long time off and we just didn't have the enthusiasm we normally have," Huggins said. "Then we got behind and it was like, 'Oh my God, what do we do?' But you've got to give them credit, though, for fighting their way back." 
 
West Virginia continues its two-game Big 12 homestand with a Tuesday night matchup against Oklahoma State that will tip off at 9 p.m. and will be televised nationally on ESPNU. The Cowboys knocked off 14^th-ranked Texas 64-51 in Stillwater earlier today.