MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — In the late-night aftermath of Wednesday’s overtime loss to Oklahoma, West Virginia coach Bob Huggins put his own spin on working overtime.
He rewatched the game twice, not getting to bed until after sunrise, and hours later he watched it a third time with his players.
“They really enjoyed that,” Huggins said with as much sarcasm as he could muster.
Jordan Woodard’s unimpeded dash to the winning basket became the crowning insult in a game where Press Virginia didn’t impress. Oklahoma’s 12 turnovers marked a season-low for the Mountaineers, who also failed to achieve their requisite goal of 40 deflections.
Entering Saturday’s road test at Kansas State (14-4, 3-3), Huggins demands his defense regain its feistiness.
“Truth of the matter is, we haven’t run a ball down from behind for how long? We haven’t made a steal below the foul line in how long? That’s not lack of energy, that’s lack of effort,” he said.
No. 7 West Virginia (15-3, 4-2) owns five consecutive wins over the Wildcats, including the last two at Bramlage Coliseum, where the “Wabash Cannonball” rambles with renewed vigor this season. Bruce Weber’s team appears NCAA tournament-worthy after a two-year hiatus, supported by five double-digit scorers who have raised the offensive efficiency to No. 26 in the KenPom ratings.
Wesley Iwundu, a 6-foot-7 forward, approached triple-double territory — 15 points, eight rebounds and eight assists — during K-State’s 96-88 win at Oklahoma State on Wednesday. He and D.J. Johnson (12.3 points, 6.3 rebounds) are among the senior leaders in a seven-man rotation.
Guards Barry Brown (12.7 points) and Kamau Stokes (11.3 points, 4.7 assists) join forward Dean Wade (10.1 points, 5.2 rebounds) in a maturing sophomore class. Brown scored 20 during last year’s meeting in Manhattan.
Facing a two-game deficit to Kansas with one-third of the round-robin complete, the Mountaineers “need to win a bunch of games in a row” to keep their Big 12 title aspirations alive, according to forward Nate Adrian.
Adrian made three 3-pointers against Oklahoma when WVU shot only 7-of-25 from deep. Such a heavy perimeter focus hasn’t served the Mountaineers well — they’re 4-10 in Big 12 games when attempting 24 or more 3s.
And West Virginia remains among the top 10 in offensive efficiency despite poor foul shooting that ranks 308th out of 347 teams in Division I.
No. 7 West Virginia (15-3, 4-2) at Kansas State (14-4, 3-3)
Tipoff: Saturday, 6 p.m. Eastern in Manhattan, Kan. (ESPN2)
RPIs: West Virginia 42, Kansas State 48
Line: West Virginia favored by 3
Prediction: West Virginia 79-76