Tuesday, January 27
Morgantown, W.Va.
8:30 p.m.
West Virginia University
vs
Kansas State
Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
Mountaineers, Wildcats to Tangle on Tuesday Night
January 26, 2026 01:29 PM | Men's Basketball
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia returns to Hope Coliseum on Tuesday night to face the Kansas State Wildcats to begin a two-game conference homestand.
This Saturday, the Mountaineers will take on Baylor. Both teams coming to Morgantown this week are below West Virginia in the league standings with identical 1-6 records.
Kansas State, now 10-10 overall following last Saturday's 86-62 loss to rival Kansas, has been dealing with injuries that has limited it to just 10 available players against the Jayhawks.
Junior Abdi Bashir Jr. (foot) and senior Khamari McGriff (undisclosed) have missed the last two games, while Elias Rapieque (undisclosed) has been out for the last four.
McGriff and Rapieque are both 6-foot-9, which has impacted the Wildcats' post rotation. The two have combined to average 14.3 points and 7.1 rebounds per game so far this season, while Bashir, a 6-foot-7, 175-pound wing, is the team's second leading scorer averaging 13.2 points per game.
"McGriff, I think he's kind of day-to-day and he's probably one you won't really know until you show up and play that night, but coach (Jerome) Tang does a great job of getting all those guys confidence and you know whoever is going to be on the floor will be playing with a certain level of confidence," West Virginia coach Ross Hodge said.
"Sometimes it works the other way when you do have some injuries - it kind of forces you to condense rosters and guys aren't looking over their shoulders and are playing with a level of freedom that maybe they weren't playing with when they had (regular) substitution patterns," Hodge added.
K-State's top scorer, junior guard P.J. Haggerty, is currently fifth in the country averaging 23.4 points per contest. Haggerty hit his average last Saturday against Kansas while logging 39 minutes.
Guards David Castillo and Nate Johnson played 37 and 35 minutes respectively as Kansas used a 27-7 run over the remaining 7:26 to close out the game.
The 62 points were a season low for the Wildcats, averaging 84.1 points and giving up 80.1 points per contest.
"All of those guys have proven throughout the year that they can score," Hodge said. "They can put a lot of pressure on you in a lot of different ways."
Hodge, whose teams have faced Haggerty twice when he played at Tulsa and Memphis, calls him a "natural scorer.
"He has great touch in and around the paint. He has great balance, a tight handle and a feel to use your body against you to get you into bad positions and forces officials to give him the whistle," he observed. "If he feels your hands anywhere close then he has a great knack for drawing the foul."
West Virginia (13-7 overall and 4-3 in Big 12 play) saw its two-game conference winning streak come to an end last Saturday at top-ranked Arizona. The Wildcats jumped out to an early lead and never trailed.
Guard Chance Moore came off the bench to claim top scoring honors for the Mountaineers with 12 points.
West Virginia has been unbeatable at home in 12 games so far this season. The Mountaineers are outscoring their opponents by an average of 21.3 points per game in the Coliseum, while limiting them to just 36.7% shooting.
WVU's home-game stat advantages include a +7.2 margin on the glass and a solid 47.9% shooting from the floor.
Guard Honor Huff is one of four Mountaineer players averaging double figures with a team-best 16.3 points-per-game average. The others averaging double digits are Treysen Eaglestaff (10.6), Brenen Lorient (10.5) and Moore (10.2).
Kansas State has won the last three meetings, including an 81-67 verdict at the Coliseum on Jan. 9, 2024.
WVU is currently tied with UCF for seventh place in the Big 12 standings entering this week's action.
Tuesday night's game will tip off at 8:30 p.m. and will be televised nationally on FS1 (Jake Eisenberg and Nick Bahe).
Mountaineer Sports Network radio coverage with Tony Caridi, Brad Howe and David Kahn will get things going at 7:30 p.m. on stations throughout West Virginia, online via WVUsports.com and the Varsity Network and WVU Gameday apps.
Tickets are available and can be purchased by logging on to WVUGAME.com.
This Saturday, the Mountaineers will take on Baylor. Both teams coming to Morgantown this week are below West Virginia in the league standings with identical 1-6 records.
Kansas State, now 10-10 overall following last Saturday's 86-62 loss to rival Kansas, has been dealing with injuries that has limited it to just 10 available players against the Jayhawks.
Junior Abdi Bashir Jr. (foot) and senior Khamari McGriff (undisclosed) have missed the last two games, while Elias Rapieque (undisclosed) has been out for the last four.
McGriff and Rapieque are both 6-foot-9, which has impacted the Wildcats' post rotation. The two have combined to average 14.3 points and 7.1 rebounds per game so far this season, while Bashir, a 6-foot-7, 175-pound wing, is the team's second leading scorer averaging 13.2 points per game.
"McGriff, I think he's kind of day-to-day and he's probably one you won't really know until you show up and play that night, but coach (Jerome) Tang does a great job of getting all those guys confidence and you know whoever is going to be on the floor will be playing with a certain level of confidence," West Virginia coach Ross Hodge said.
"Sometimes it works the other way when you do have some injuries - it kind of forces you to condense rosters and guys aren't looking over their shoulders and are playing with a level of freedom that maybe they weren't playing with when they had (regular) substitution patterns," Hodge added.
K-State's top scorer, junior guard P.J. Haggerty, is currently fifth in the country averaging 23.4 points per contest. Haggerty hit his average last Saturday against Kansas while logging 39 minutes.
Guards David Castillo and Nate Johnson played 37 and 35 minutes respectively as Kansas used a 27-7 run over the remaining 7:26 to close out the game.
The 62 points were a season low for the Wildcats, averaging 84.1 points and giving up 80.1 points per contest.
"All of those guys have proven throughout the year that they can score," Hodge said. "They can put a lot of pressure on you in a lot of different ways."
Hodge, whose teams have faced Haggerty twice when he played at Tulsa and Memphis, calls him a "natural scorer.
"He has great touch in and around the paint. He has great balance, a tight handle and a feel to use your body against you to get you into bad positions and forces officials to give him the whistle," he observed. "If he feels your hands anywhere close then he has a great knack for drawing the foul."
West Virginia (13-7 overall and 4-3 in Big 12 play) saw its two-game conference winning streak come to an end last Saturday at top-ranked Arizona. The Wildcats jumped out to an early lead and never trailed.
Guard Chance Moore came off the bench to claim top scoring honors for the Mountaineers with 12 points.
West Virginia has been unbeatable at home in 12 games so far this season. The Mountaineers are outscoring their opponents by an average of 21.3 points per game in the Coliseum, while limiting them to just 36.7% shooting.
WVU's home-game stat advantages include a +7.2 margin on the glass and a solid 47.9% shooting from the floor.
Guard Honor Huff is one of four Mountaineer players averaging double figures with a team-best 16.3 points-per-game average. The others averaging double digits are Treysen Eaglestaff (10.6), Brenen Lorient (10.5) and Moore (10.2).
Kansas State has won the last three meetings, including an 81-67 verdict at the Coliseum on Jan. 9, 2024.
WVU is currently tied with UCF for seventh place in the Big 12 standings entering this week's action.
Tuesday night's game will tip off at 8:30 p.m. and will be televised nationally on FS1 (Jake Eisenberg and Nick Bahe).
Mountaineer Sports Network radio coverage with Tony Caridi, Brad Howe and David Kahn will get things going at 7:30 p.m. on stations throughout West Virginia, online via WVUsports.com and the Varsity Network and WVU Gameday apps.
Tickets are available and can be purchased by logging on to WVUGAME.com.
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballRoss Hodge | Kansas State Preview
Monday, January 26
Ross Hodge | Arizona Postgame
Saturday, January 24
United Bank Playbook: Arizona Preview
Friday, January 23
Arizona State Game Recap
Friday, January 23
