33 years apart: WVU basketball wins over top teams

The last time a West Virginia basketball team beat a No. 1 ranked team, prior to Tuesday, was a lot like this most recent upset.

An upset, if you can even call it that.

Back on Feb 27, 1983, No. 1 UNLV came to Morgantown having just lost a game at home a few days earlier. This match up, on a Sunday, presented a challenge to the Runnin’ Rebels.

"“UNLV had everything going against it that afternoon – jet-lag, injuries, illness, a three-time zone difference and a fired-up WVU student section champing at the bit,” wrote John Antonik on WVUsports.com. “(UNLV head coach Jerry) Tarkanian didn’t understand fully what he had gotten himself into until he spent a sleepless Saturday night at the Holiday Inn down the street from the Coliseum listening to a large mob West Virginia students carrying on in sub-freezing weather until sunrise.“Then later that afternoon, he got to hear them up close for 2 ½ hours until his team lost 87-78 to the Mountaineers in one of West Virginia’s most memorable victories ever in the Coliseum.”"

UNLV had a 24-game winning streak snapped two days before playing the Mountaineers. On the other side, WVU came in winners of eight of its last nine games.

West Virginia led, 39-30, at halftime. Getting that early advantage paid off as both teams scored 48 points in the second half. Greg Jones put up a game-high 32 points against UNLV to lead the victory charge.

However, on Tuesday, when the Mountaineers beat Kansas, there were eight lead changes early on. WVU gained momentum right before halftime and picked up the intensity in the second half. It led some to question the Jayhawks effort.

And, like UNLV before it, Kansas had some travel problems. However, this came after the team was already in Morgantown. The Jayhawks bus, along with hundreds of other cars, were stuck in gridlock as a winter storm moved in a few hours before gametime.

"“The Kansas team bus left the Waterfront Place hotel in Morgantown at 5 p.m. local time, prepared to make the three-mile trek to WVU Coliseum. With a police escort leading the way, the drive took 50 minutes,” wrote Rustin Dodd in The Kansas City Star. “The team arrived inside the locker room just before 6 p.m. for a game that was scheduled to begin in a little over an hour.“Did the chaotic logistics contribute to a slow start? The Jayhawks did not seek to use this as an excuse.“We can’t,” Selden said.”"

With both games already in hand, the 1983 Mountaineers and 2016 Mountaineers closed it off with a dunk.

The official @WVUhoops Twitter account refreshed everyone’s memory by posting a video showing slam dunks in the final minutes of both games.

Against UNLV, Lester Rowe slammed one home and against Kansas, Jaysean Paige brought the crowd to its feet with a two-handed slam.

After knocking off the top team in the nation in 1983, the WVU basketball team followed that up with a 93-70 loss on the road against Duquesne.

Hopefully, that’s not the case on Saturday as the Mountaineers have another tough Big 12 match up with No. 2 Oklahoma.