Just a few days after rolling over one of the last two teams without a loss in Big 12 play, West Virginia figures to face a sterner test from one of the last two teams without a win in Big 12 play.
The No. 12 Mountaineers (14-2, 3-1 Big 12) are in Manhattan, Kan. to face a Kansas State team looking to keep its season from spiraling out of reach. The Wildcats (7-9, 0-4) are still looking for their first league win a year after hoisting the crown.
The primary reasons for those struggles are easy enough to figure out with tough-nosed guard Barry Brown and smooth-shooting big man Dean Wade lost to graduation.
“They lost two of the best players that played there maybe ever,” noted West Virginia coach Bob Huggins.
Huggins would know, having coached a year at K-State himself.
The Wildcats still play frenetic defense for Bruce Weber, ranking 10th nationally in turnover percentage. That looms as a potential Achilles heel for a West Virginia team that ranks 287th in the same category on offense.
“It’s a typical Bruce Weber team,” Huggins said. “They do a good job guarding. Fundamentally sound. They’re tough to score on. They don’t give you anything easy.”
If K-State doesn’t come up with a steal, though, it is typically toast — at 262nd nationally in defensive rebounding, the Wildcats are prone to allowing second-chance points. That will be tested even more by West Virginia, which is third nationally in offensive rebounding.
The Wildcats have issues of their own protecting the ball. Kansas State is 297th in turnover percentage when it is on offense.
Overall, though, the Wildcats are playing better basketball than their record indicates. Close games have been a bugaboo for the team in the void left by Brown and Wade’s departures. Kansas State is 2-6 in games decided by six points or less, including a 66-61 loss at Oklahoma and a 59-57 loss to TCU.