New year, same Jayhawks

Good morning! Hope you rang in the new year in style. Let’s get you caught up on what happened yesterday in college hoops.

1. Kansas ‘miserable’ offensive day is West Virginia’s gain

It seemed like No. 7 Kansas might be able to close out 2024 with a routine win. It was 13.5-point home favorites against a West Virginia team that didn’t get to Lawrence until early Tuesday morning because of plane issues. Just as important? The Mountaineers didn’t have Tucker DeVries and Amana Hansberry due to injuries.

Didn’t matter. West Virginia’s 62-61 win was its first-ever victory in Lawrence, and marked the first time KU lost its conference home opener since 1963.

Kansas looked lost from the start on Tuesday. It needed more than five minutes to score its first basket, trailed by double digits for most of the first half, and wasn’t able to dent West Virginia’s lead until late in the second half.

Even when Kansas finally positioned itself for a tie, Mountaineers guard Javon Small pulled off a remarkable play.

And when Zeke Mayo tied the game at 61 thanks to an and-one, Small pulled off another smart move when he baited freshman Flory Bidunga for a foul with 1.8 seconds remaining. He hit one of two free-throws for the lead, and Kansas failed to get a good look at a game-winner.

Bill Self spent most of the game trying to find a lineup that could score — Mayo was the only real scoring threat all day for the Hawks with 27 points — and finally went with two bigs in Bidunga and Hunter Dickinson. That provided some much-needed rebounding and defensive stops, but the offense repeatedly stagnated.

Kansas (9-3, 0-1 in Big 12) shot just 38.8% from the field and 4-of-16 from deep. Its saving grace was it finally got to the free-throw line, where it converted 19-of-21 shots. But that was the only thing that worked for KU.

Eduardo Andre was the MVP for West Virginia. He led WVU with 15 points, while holding All-American big-man Hunter Dickinson to 10 points. Small didn’t score efficiently, but scored 13 points with 11 rebounds and six dimes.

DeVries wasn’t surprised the game turned out to be a nail biter. "We knew even with that lead, you don't come in here and just walk out like that. They're gonna go down swinging, and I thought our guys did a good job answering the bell."

The Mountaineers (10-2, 1-0) now sit in prime position to secure an NCAA Tournament bid in the first year of the DeVries era. A pair of wins for Gonzaga and at the Phog will carry plenty of weight heading into March.

As for Kansas, it has two concerns going forward: A lack of consistent perimeter threats (and KJ Adams’ limited offensive ability) will let defenses sag on Dickinson. But just as concerning Tuesday was Kansas’ inability to defend West Virginia’s high pick-and-roll. When Dickinson hedged against screeners, he kept getting caught being unable to rotate back to the roller and the basket.

2. UCF’s win over Texas Tech highlights a packed Big 12

UCF largely flew under the radar since it beat Texas A&M on opening night. The Knights played just a pair of top-60 opponents (Wisconsin and LSU) at the Greenbriar and lost both. Still, UCF entered Tuesday’s showdown against Texas Tech with a 9-2 record and with hopes of finishing in the top half of the Big 12.

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