MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Offense has held West Virginia back in the majority of its five losses this season.
Defense has been a sore spot for 22nd-ranked Kansas since the start of Big 12 Conference play.
When the two clashed Saturday afternoon inside Hope Coliseum, the Mountaineers exploited the Jayhawks’ defensive weaknesses time and time again, scoring 47 second-half points with only two turnovers during that time and overcoming an eight-point deficit to secure a much-needed 86-75 victory.
“This group’s always had a ton of character and belief, but then you actually have to go do it,” first-year West Virginia head coach Ross Hodge said. “The doing part is what was getting us.”
WVU (11-5, 2-1) improved to 11-0 at home this season and 8-5 all-time in Morgantown against KU.
“I don’t know if it’s the building. I’ve always thought the best home courts have the best players playing on it,” KU head coach Bill Self said.
A decisive and pivotal stretch after the Jayhawks (11-5, 1-2) led 59-51 for their largest advantage of the outing.
But after Tre White’s triple with 14:55 remaining, Kansas didn’t score again for more than 7 minutes. During that time, WVU scored 16 unanswered points, allowing the home team to take control in the process.
A conventional three-point play from Harlan Obioha was followed by consecutive paint baskets from point guard Jasper Floyd, who used his upper body and methodical style of play to get to his spot and convert from close range.
“We were very poor. They backed our guards down in the post and we didn’t give much resistance at all,” Self said. “They took advantage of that and we didn’t score on the other end. They were tougher. We never stopped them the whole day. They got 39 in the first half. We never made them play poorly.”
Obioha’s dunk off a feed from Brenen Lorient gave WVU its first lead of the second half at 60-59 with 11:06 left. After the WVU center split two free throws, the Mountaineers upped their advantage to eight on three-pointers from Floyd and Honor Huff on successive possessions, the latter of which made it 67-59 with 8:36 left.
“A lot resolve, togetherness and belief,” Hodge said. “Finally found a group that was able to put it all together.”
White scored in the paint to end Kansas’ lengthy drought, but Huff countered 1:13 later with a four-point play, canning a trey from well beyond the arc as he fell to the hardwood and was fouled by KU freshman Darryn Peterson.
West Virginia 70, Kansas 61, 6:41 2nd half
Honor Huff will be at the free throw line to try and finish off a four-point play out of timeout after hitting this 3 to leave WVU with its largest lead to this point. pic.twitter.com/2HS2gqjLIy
— Greg Carey (@gcarey938) January 10, 2026
Kansas got as close as six when Elmarko Jackson made the first of two free throws with 3:09 left, but Obioha came up with a timely offensive rebound and threw down a dunk 21 seconds later, and Huff made two free throws with 2:21 left to stretch the lead to double digits.
“Experience is so key in these situations and being able to execute defensively,” Hodge said. “In the two [close games] we lost early, it was a flip of these games we’ve won. We talked about that at halftime. Giving up 43 points in a half, you’re probably not going to win that game, so it was like let’s flip the script.
“The ability to execute on both ends of the floor is the difference and you need some misses. That’s the truth. Basketball is a make or miss game.”
WVU shot 14 for 30 in the second half with five threes and made 14-of-18 free throws. It also had only two turnovers after seven in the first half, enabling the Mountaineers to significantly reduce Kansas’ points off turnover total from 12 in the first 20 minutes to one after halftime.
Huff scored a team-high 23 points and Lorient followed with 18 to go with a game-best six assists. Lorient did nearly all of his damage in the first half, which he finished with 16 points on 6-for-8 shooting.
Treysen Eaglestaff scored 12 in the win and Obioha recorded his first double-double as a Mountaineers with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
“When he’s playing at that level, it gives you a different dimension as an offense,” Hodge said.
Obioha’s effort, combined with Huff’s seven boards, was key in allowing WVU to out-rebound KU, 38-32.
“I’ve had a pretty tough stretch of games lately that I feel like I’ve letdown my team and brothers,” Obioha said. “It was more trying to get back to being me.”
Floyd, held scoreless and limited to 3 minutes in the first half as a result of two early fouls, scored nine on 4-for-4 shooting.
Peterson led Kansas with 23 points but shot 6 for 17.
“He’s the projected No. 1 pick. He has a lot of savvy to his game,” Huff said of Peterson. “Jasper did a good job in the second half of being where needed to be and being disruptive.”
White scored 18 and Melvin Council Jr. added 11 in defeat.
KU center Flory Bidunga had eight points on 4-for-6 shooting, but did not score in the final 27 minutes.
The Jayhawks have allowed at least 81 points in all three Big 12 games and an average of 89, including 84.7 in regulation.
“We suck right now — just right now,” Self said. “Everybody goes through ebbs and flows in a season. The last three games, we haven’t played well. We have to flip it. The common denominator is all three teams have played really well, so that tells me we’re not doing something to make them play poorly.“