LAWRENCE, Kan. — West Virginia has gone from the frying pan to the fire.
A week after upsetting then-No. 2 Ohio State, the No. 16 Mountaineers (11-1) will try to make it back-to-back wins over teams in the top-3 by knocking off No. 3 Kansas (10-2).
There is a caveat when it comes to beating the Jayhawks at storied Phog Allen Fieldhouse — the Mountaineers have never actually done it.
There have been painfully close calls.
The Mountaineers squandered an 18-point lead before falling in overtime in 2015. Two years later, it was a 14-point advantage that went by the wayside before another Kansas overtime win.
There’s also an undeniable element of the absurd when it comes to beating Kansas on its home floor. In a 77-69 loss in 2018, West Virginia shot two free throws in a regulation 40-minute basketball game. Kansas shot 35.
“It’s hard not to think of the happenings in Allen Fieldhouse over the years,” said WVU coach Bob Huggins. “Not just us, but to other people. I think that’s always in the back of your mind.”
Much like the Mountaineers, the Jayhawks are coming off a down year by their standards. While West Virginia missed the NCAA tourney for the first time since 2013, Kansas failed to win the Big 12 for the first time since 2006.
This year both teams enter league play looking like legitimate conference championship contenders. Built around a frontcourt of freshman Oscar Tshiebwe and sophomore Derek Culver, the Mountaineers are the eighth-best offensive rebounding team in the country.
But with 7-foot center Udoka Azubuike and 6-10 power forward David McCormack, Kansas is the rare team with superior size to West Virginia’s bigs.
Being a blue blood, Azubuike and McCormack aren’t even Kansas’ best weapons. That would be point guard Devon Dotson, who is averaging 18.8 points, 4.6 assists and 2.3 steals per game.
“Dotson is one of the better guards in the country,” Huggins said. “He has great speed in the open floor. He’s really, really good.”
Though he has yet to win at The Phog, Huggins doesn’t think there is any great riddle that needs to be solved.
“I think it comes down to making shots,” Huggins said. “We’re both going to rebound and guard.”
Programming note
Despite being a Top-20 matchup, Saturday’s game will not be televised. It is streaming on ESPN’s Big 12 Now online platform, which is in its first year of existence.
This is the first WVU basketball game on Big 12 Now. The Mountaineers’ football game at Kansas also aired on the subscription service.
A total of five games will stream on Big 12 Now this season, including the Jayhawks’ return trip to Morgantown on Feb. 12.
Huggins understands that this is the future of airing games, but he is in the corner of those who will have difficulty seeing it.
“I think it’s tough for our people,” Huggins said. “I’ve got two girls that are pretty good with being able to work the iPads and all those things and they were having a hard time with our first football game. I imagine it’s gotten better since then.
“We may be the school where our fans have the hardest time to have the technology to be able to watch the game.”