No. 11 West Virginia out-toughs top-ranked Kansas

Bill Self moved through a narrow hallway inside WVU Coliseum on late Tuesday night, clutching a stat sheet after another loss at West Virginia.

As Self reached a stairwell, he crossed paths with West Virginia coach Bob Huggins, a long-time friend and the man who had just engineered his third straight victory over Self and No. 1 Kansas. As a reward for his work, Huggins had activated another $25,000 bonus, an incentive in his contract for any wins over the Jayhawks.

“$75,000,” Self said, smiling. “Least you could do is buy me lunch.”

Huggins smiled as he passed, heading to a victorious postgame news conference. He did not offer much of a response. He let the scoreboard speak for itself.

The final score said No. 11 West Virginia 74, No. 1 Kansas 63, and the night will have plenty of long-lasting repercussions for Self and his program. The Jayhawks (14-2, 3-1 Big 12) lost for the first time since Nov. 17 and for the third straight year in Morgantown.

As West Virginia moved to 4-0 in Big 12 play and took over sole possession of first place, the Jayhawks may have also learned something about themselves in the process.

“We got out-toughed tonight,” said junior guard Wayne Selden, who finished with 11 points and six turnovers. “They were men and we weren’t.”

Here in Morgantown, they call the smothering defense “Press Virginia,” and even if you are one to scoff at the cheap pun, it is hard to trifle with the effectiveness.

The Mountaineers don’t so much play basketball as turn each night into a tough-man contest, 40 minutes of scrapping, clawing, charging, pulverizing basketball. If you don’t stand up to the musket-wielding bullies, you don’t stand a chance. No. 1 Kansas learned that the hard way yet again.

In short: the Jayhawks failed the tough-man exercise, a truth that will cause Self more unrest than any of the unsavory stats from Tuesday night. Junior guard Frank Mason, perhaps the Jayhawks’ most valuable piece, was held to near no-show status. He was limited to 12 points on 3-of-6 shooting — with six coming on two late three-pointers. Mason also committed a career-high seven turnovers, while the Jayhawks finished with 22 giveaways.

“He just seemed like to me he wasn’t engaged emotionally tonight,” Self said of Mason, who played in front of 25 family members and friends who had braved treacherous conditions while driving in from Petersburg, Va.

“I don’t know what it was,” Self continued. “I was so nervous about the weather. I know you guys find that trite. But I was so nervous, because Frank had 25 family members coming and you start worrying if they can get here.”

The family members, according to Frank Mason’s father, arrived shortly after game time. Their presence did not alter the result. Kansas lost its third straight on a conference opponent’s home floor for the first time since three straight losses at Texas Tech from 2005 to 2009.

“The game in a nutshell is they were so much more aggressive and quicker,” Self said. “They were far more athletic.”

In the hours before the game, the proceedings were overshadowed by a massive winter storm that hammered the area. As West Virginia fans scrambled to get to WVU Coliseum at rush hour, the streets of Morgantown were snarled in a snowy gridlock.

The Jayhawks were affected as well. The Kansas team bus left the Waterfront Place hotel in Morgantown two hours before tip. With a police escort leading the way, the three-mile drive took 50 minutes.

Did the chaotic logistics contribute to a slow start? The Jayhawks did not seek to use this as an excuse.

“We can’t,” Selden said.

Still, the Jayhawks looked sluggish in the opening half. Mason and Selden finished with four turnovers each during the stretch, and the Jayhawks had 12 turnovers by halftime.

As Kansas’ offense struggled to stay composed, the Mountaineers built a 13-point lead in the early stretches of the second half. Mason had six turnovers — a career high — by the first media timeout of the second half, and Selden joined him with his sixth minutes later. When West Virginia freshman forward Esa Ahmad finished a layup with 16:33 remaining, the Mountaineers led 43-30, and fans began to sense the moment.

The Jayhawks still possessed Perry Ellis, though, and the veteran forward began to carry his teammates on his back. Ellis, who finished with a team-high 21 points, was assertive and aggressive in the paint, calling for the ball and sparking a 9-0 run with a layup, three-pointer and two free throws.

Kansas sliced the lead to 43-39 with 14 minutes left and clawed back to 47-42 after a three-pointer by Selden with 10:51 to play. The Jayhawks could not capitalize on the momentum. There were too many empty possessions on offense, and too many layups for the Mountaineers on the other end, and in the final seconds, the West Virginia students rushed the floor for a third straight year.

Now the Jayhawks must regroup. They play TCU on Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse. The Big 12 race will press on. The Jayhawks were not going to be perfect in conference play. The flip side? They must be better than they were on Tuesday night.

“You know,” Selden said, “it happens. We got to learn from it. We just can’t let it happen again.”

This story was originally published January 12, 2016 at 8:28 PM with the headline "No. 11 West Virginia out-toughs top-ranked Kansas."