Premature musket doesn’t derail Kansas Jayhawks basketball from beating West Virginia
.JPG "Kansas guard Joseph Yesufu, right, dribbles around West Virginia guard Joe Toussaint during Saturday’s game in Morgantown, W.Va.")
If defending national champion Kansas wins another Big 12 regular-season men’s basketball title in 2022-23, it might look back on a pair of early road victories as instrumental to that achievement.
“Well, it’s the best we could do,” KU coach Bill Self said after Saturday’s 76-62 rout of the Mountaineers before a sellout crowd of 14,135 at WVU Coliseum. He was referring to the WVU result as well as Tuesday’s 75-72 victory at Texas Tech.
“I don’t know it means a ton,” Self quickly added after an eighth straight victory upped the Jayhawks’ record to 14-1 overall and 3-0 in the Big 12 Conference.
It was a win that puts KU in prime position to jump from No. 3 to 1 in The AP poll Monday, considering No. 1 Purdue lost to Rutgers this week and No. 2 Houston travels to Cincinnati Sunday.
“Everything is so skewed,” Self said. “People could say West Virginia (10-5, 0-3) started out 0-3. Well, they played their first two on the road (losing at Kansas State and Oklahoma State).
“Things have a tendency to flip and balance out. I’m sure it will in some ways, (but) we couldn’t have had a better week than what we did. I thought we played pretty well in both games.”
Five Jayhawks scored in double figures against West Virginia. Gradey Dick hit four of KU’s 11 three-pointers (in 24 total attempts) and scored 15 points. Jalen Wilson had 14 points and 14 rebounds and Kevin McCullar added 12 points and eight boards. Dajuan Harris hit three threes and scored 11 points, while KJ Adams had 14 points and three rebounds.
Adams was involved in one of the most crucial, and humorous, plays of the game, if not the season.
KU, which led by 12 points in the early going, was up by just five points with the ball for a final first-half possession. The shot clock malfunctioned as Wilson put up a jump shot outside the paint with 3 ticks left in the half. But the buzzer erroneously sounded after Wilson released the ball. Also at that moment, the West Virginia mascot fired a musket, which is normally done at the exact moment the half is concluded.
This time play continued after the gunfire (with blanks of course). Adams grabbed a rebound of the Wilson miss, was fouled and hit two free throws that gave KU a 42-35 lead at the break. The seven-point lead made the Jayhawks feel a bit more comfortable than being up by five.
“I had no idea what was going on,” Wilson said with a smile. “That’s why I flinched when I was shooting it. They didn’t reset the clock after the rebound. KJ got the rebound. His free throws (on a night Adams made 6 of 8 from the line) set the tone for the second half.”
KU coach Self joked about the mascot firing the musket earlier than expected.
“Somebody asked me that earlier: ‘Have you ever experienced that in your career?’ I’m like, ‘This is the only place they shoot a gun in my career,’’’ Self said.
“I didn’t know you could reload a musket that fast to get it off with 5 seconds left and get it off in regulation, too, 5 seconds later,” he cracked.
Indeed, the mascot fired the musket again ... this time once the half truly ended. He waved to the fans who cheered the double round of gunfire.
On a serious note, Self indicated Adams’ two free throws were indeed huge.
“We played too well the first half to be up five,” Self said. “We were up double figures with two minutes left. We jacked around, and they cut it to five. They have the momentum if they get a stop there and also get the last shot. We were fortunate.”
KU freshman Dick, who was part of KU’s early three-point onslaught (KU hit its first six three-point tries and eight shots in a row), said beating West Virginia convincingly after downing Texas Tech was “huge. How powerful this conference is, it’s a big advantage to win two road games. Coming home it gives us momentum.”
Noted Wilson: “We set the tone and never let them go on too big of a run. It shows our composure on the road. They had a lot of fans up there (in stands). I feel we had two tough road games. It’s great to get home and have two in a row at home now. Going home is a great way to end a road win.”
KU is set to meet Oklahoma at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, then Iowa State at 3 p.m. on Saturday, both at Allen Fieldhouse.
NOTE: KU’s Joseph Yesufu, who missed the Texas Tech game because of a hamstring injury, had two points and two boards in 16 minutes. … Self said MJ Rice missed the game after suffering back spasms in warmups. Self said Rice definitely would have played had he not suffered the back discomfort.
This story was originally published January 7, 2023 at 9:25 PM with the headline "Premature musket doesn’t derail Kansas Jayhawks basketball from beating West Virginia."
