KU basketball gave up 86 points to West Virginia. This stat made it worse
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- West Virginia scored 86 points, hit 11 of 26 3s and beat Kansas 86-75.
- Mountaineers outscored Kansas 47-32 in the second half, using a 22-2 run to seize control.
- Kansas faltered on defense and rebounding, allowing 30 paint points and second chances.
West Virginia’s basketball team, which had averaged a less-than-robust 60.5 points a game in its first two Big 12 contests, torched Kansas’ defense for 86 points — 47 the second half — in an 86-75 victory over the Jayhawks on Saturday at Hope Coliseum in Morgantown.
The same Mountaineer squad that entered 0-3 against Quad 1 competition and 0-1 versus Quad 2, not only converted 11 3s in 26 tries, but also totaled 30 points in the paint.
“We never guarded them. We never stopped them the whole night,” KU coach Bill Self said after his No. 22-ranked team fell to 11-5 overall and 1-2 in Big 12 play. West Virginia improved to 11-5, 2-1.
“When a team that doesn’t play very fast gets one point in transition the whole game and still can score in the 80s, that’s not very good,” Self added.
West Virginia, which outscored KU 47-32 the second half, claimed a double-digit win despite finishing with just one fast-break point to KU’s 19.
“They went straight to the post with their guards. It wasn’t with their bigs. Their guards just backed us down on the post. We didn’t give much resistance at all,” Self said of West Virginia taking advantage of forward Bryson Tiller picking up his fourth foul with 17:35 left and forward Flory Bidunga his third with 16:27 to play.
“I mean, we had two possessions where there was no resistance at all. They just back us down, score five points on that and go back and take the lead (during a 22-2 run that turned WVU’s eight point deficit into a 73-61 advantage).
“We’ve got to figure out a way to make people play poorly. Certainly today wasn’t an example of that,” Self added.
KU, which did play at a faster pace than the home team, committed just six turnovers to WVU’s nine. The Mountaineers outrebounded KU 38-32.
“They were tougher,” Self stated.
The Mountaineers scored 86 points despite KU holding their best 3-point marksmen, Honor Huff and Treysen Eaglestaff, to 6-of-16 shooting beyond the arc.
Huff had 23 points on 5-of-12 shooting (4-of-11 3s) and Eaglestaff 12 on 3-of-9 shooting (2-5 3s). Forward Brenen Lorient had 18 points and six assists and center Harlan Obioha 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Huff and Eaglestaff each hit two 3s the final half as WSU finished 11-of-26 beyond the arc to KU’s 8-of-27.
“Those two played well,” Self said of Eaglestaff and Huff, “but I really thought No. 55 (Obioha) and No. 0 (Lorient) were the key to the game for them. They were great.”
KU big man Bidunga had eight points and six rebounds (and three fouls) in 29 minutes and Tiller four points and five rebounds (with four fouls) in 14 minutes.
“We weren’t playing to our principles on defense. It’s something we have to hunker down on,” sophomore guard Elmarko Jackson said, adding, “they got hot (in 22-2 run the second half). We’ve got a really good team at Iowa State coming up, so we need to focus on that, get back to playing how we play basketball and just being tough.”
Jackson said the main problem with KU’s defense in Big 12 play has been “limiting second-chance points.” West Virginia had 13 of those to KU’s 12.
“As of right now, we’re not doing our best on the defensive glass. We’re allowing teams to get second-chance points. So I say that’s something that we’ve got to focus on (while) limiting teams, playing the matchups. We have to play better defense as well,” he said.
Of the defensive plan Saturday, Self said: “Today we didn’t switch near as much. We actually did some things a little bit different, but still our attention to detail ... let’s just call it, I have to watch tape. No matter what a coach says now, usually you can go back and say, ‘Well, that’s because the coaching staff and the coach haven’t done a good enough job training them in what you want them to do different.’
“So it sounds like maybe if anything is said now that I’m placing blame on players. I’m not. I’m placing fault with all of us, but we have not consistently got everybody to understand that your value to our program and to our team is being a junkyard dog more so than it is being a skilled player.
“We’ve got to do that. And that’s the coaches’ responsibility, to get the players to do that. But our best teams here weren’t great all the time. We never let anybody else play well.”
The Jayhawks will meet Iowa State at 8 p.m. Tuesday at Allen Fieldhouse. KU either wins to improve to .500 or opens Big 12 play 1-3.
“I don’t want to say I’m glad we lost, but I’m glad we got slapped in the face early,” said KU senior Tre White, who finished with 18 points in 38 minutes. Darryn Peterson led the way with 23 points in 31 minutes. “You don’t want to play your best ball in January. So we’re trying to peak at the right time.”
Self stressed: “We’re not playing well right now. I think that goes without saying. We weren’t as competitive. Once again, rebounding the ball at crucial points and our guards certainly can do a better job in that area, but yes, this is disappointing. We have to understand until we can make other people play poorly, we’re not going to score enough points against folks that consistently, unless some guys just go off and have a career night. That’s not how you play.”
This story was originally published January 10, 2026 at 4:55 PM with the headline "KU basketball gave up 86 points to West Virginia. This stat made it worse."
