MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Tonight, Josh Eilert will get an opportunity to coach against the team where his Division I college basketball career got its start – Kansas State.
 
Eilert played two seasons at K-State in 2002-04 after transferring from Cloud County Community College, and he also spent two years there as a graduate assistant coach before coming to West Virginia in 2007 as its video coordinator.
 
Now two days after losing 71-64 at sixth-ranked Iowa State, Eilert's Mountaineers remain on the road for their return trip to Manhattan to face Kansas State, coming off an 84-74 home victory over 25^th-ranked BYU on Saturday.
 
With Saturday's win, K-State (16-11, 6-8) snapped its three-game conference losing streak and has won just three times since defeating West Virginia 81-67 in Morgantown back on Jan. 9. The Mountaineers were without center Jesse Edwards in that game and the Wildcats' three inside players, Will McNair Jr., Arthur Kaluma and David N'Guessan, combined to make 18 of their 22 field goal attempts for 46 points, getting basically whatever they wanted close to the basket after intermission.
 
Trailing 42-40 at halftime, Kansas State outscored West Virginia 41-25 in the second half by doubling up the Mountaineers in the paint (44 to 22) and out-rebounding them 35 to 22.
 
In its double-digit victory over BYU, Kaluma had an impressive 28-point, 10-rebound, double-double, while 5-foot-11 guard Tylor Perry contributed 16 points and N'Guessan added 12.
 
K-State shot 56.3% from the floor and assisted on 20 of its 27 made field goals against the Cougars.
 
West Virginia, meanwhile, had another tough afternoon handling the basketball in its seven-point loss at Iowa State on Saturday. The Cyclones made 14 steals and forced 23 turnovers that resulted in 29 points. In its four most recent losses to Texas, TCU, Baylor and Iowa State, West Virginia has turned the ball over an average of 17.8 times per game.
 
Against Iowa State, the Mountaineers (9-18, 4-10) retook the lead with 9:05 left in the game on Kobe Johnson's wing 3, but the Cyclones responded with five straight points and rebuilt their lead to 13 over the next five minutes.
 
West Virginia is still winless away from the Coliseum this year with just one more road opportunity left at Cincinnati on March 9 following tonight's game.
 
Regarding the conference standings, Kansas State is currently tied with Texas in ninth place, while West Virginia and Oklahoma State are one game below UCF and Cincinnati at the bottom of the league standings.
 
If WVU and OSU have identical records at the end of the year, OSU owns the tiebreaker with its 70-66 victory in Stillwater back on Jan. 27.
 
West Virginia has two home games remaining against Texas Tech this Saturday and against `TCU the following Wednesday.
 
K-State finishes up with games at Cincinnati, at Kansas and at home against Iowa State.
 
Tonight's game will be televised on ESPN2 (Brian Custer and King McClure) and will tip off at 7 p.m. Mountaineer Sports Network radio coverage with Tony Caridi begins at 6 p.m. on stations throughout West Virginia, online via WVUsports.com and the Varsity Network and WVU Gameday apps.