Mountaineers not scared of No. 1 Kansas
West Virginia has taken care of business against Kansas at the WVU Coliseum before.
The past two years, the Mountaineers have upset Top 10-ranked Jayhawks teams and they have a chance to do it again on Tuesday.
Kansas comes into the game with a 14-1 record and No. 1 ranking in both the Associated Press and Coaches Poll. West Virginia moved up to No. 11 in the Coaches Poll and No. 10 in the AP Poll, making this a Big 12 battle of Top 10 teams.
"“They’ve worked to be where they’re at I guess, and I can’t even say I guess – they’re obviously the No. 1 team in the country for a reason,” WVU guard Jaysean Paige said. “But that doesn’t mean anything [Tuesday night].”"
It didn’t mean anything in 2014, when WVU beat Kansas, 92-86, at home thanks to 22 points from then-freshman Devin Williams.
"“He was a man today,” Huggins said of Williams after the game on March 8. “He made hard shots. He made shots through contact, which he hasn’t done and today he did a great job of that.”"
That win was the final victory for the Mountaineers that season as they fell to Texas in the Big 12 Tournament and Georgetown in the first round of the NIT. That team looked a lot different than the current WVU squad.
Back then, the team featured Eron Harris and Terry Henderson, who have since transferred to Michigan State and North Carolina State, respectively. Aside from Williams, only Nathan Adrian and Brandon Watkins are still on the team today.
Last season, Juwan Staten’s layup in the final seconds gave WVU a 62-61 win over Kansas.
Staten’s contested layup gave Kansas just enough time to get the ball down the court for an answering shot. Perry Ellis had the ball in his hands with a chance to give the Jayhawks the win on the road.
But Staten had other ideas.
He rushed back from the other end to get a hand in Ellis’s face and he missed the jump shot in the paint.
"“(Staten was) the guy who ran between Ellis and the rim and kind of changed his steps and kind of got him off-balance,” said Huggins. “He makes the field goal at one end and gets back and makes the play at the other end. That’s huge.”"
That 2015 team began to form the Mountaineers that we see today, especially at the end of the season. Staten and fellow senior guard Gary Browne sustained injuries down the stretch of conference play which allowed guys like Daxter Miles and Jevon Carter more playing time.
It’s no wonder why they are starters and leaders this season.
The Mountaineers have showed they can compete with the best in the past and, as Kansas remains the best this season, they have a chance to humble them again.
However, this seems like a big game to everybody, except WVU, itself.
"“They’re No. 1, but what does that mean?” Williams said after beating Oklahoma State. “What if we were put in the top 10 when we first started? What would we be? So it’s like there’s nothing we can do about that number they’ve got right now. It’s more of who decides who’s going to be top 10 when the season starts. That’s just pretty much it.“Just imagine if we were already in the top 25. We had to put ourselves in the top 25. At the end of the day, we should feel disrespected because we’re just as good as anybody in the country as a whole.”"
With the country watching, Williams and the Mountaineers have a chance to prove it.