No. 1 no more. The Mountaineers made history on Tuesday night.
There was a snow storm outside and a defensive swarm inside. West Virginia took control against Kansas early on and put its foot on the gas pedal as the Mountaineers toppled No. 1 Kansas, 74-63. It was the third time in program history that WVU knocked off a No. 1 ranked team.
"“We tried to run them off the line,” said WVU head coach Bob Huggins. “I thought we did a better job as the game wore on. We gave some at the end – it’s hard when you end up with your power forward on a point guard a lot of times, your point guard on the center and all of that. That’s why we’ve got to have ball pressure and make them scramble a little bit so we can get back to the guys we’re supposed to be guarding.”"
The Jayhawks were known as a team that could take care of the basketball, running their offense to limit turnovers. That wasn’t the case against “Press Virginia.” The Mountaineers forced 22 turnovers and scored 18 points off of those miscues.
"“The West Virginia Mountaineers don’t so much play basketball as turn each night into a tough-man contest, 40 minutes of scrapping, clawing, charging, pulverizing basketball,” wrote Rustin Dodd of The Kansas City Star. “If you don’t stand up to the musket-wielding bullies, you don’t stand a chance. No. 1 Kansas learned that the hard way yet again.”"
Here is a deeper look into how the Mountaineers caught the nation’s attention in the big win.
Next: Defense first