Honor Huff scored 23 points and grabbed seven rebounds as West Virginia rallied for an 86-75 victory over No. 22 Kansas in a Big 12 Conference game Saturday in Morgantown, W.Va.
Brenen Lorient scored 18 points and dished out six assists and Treysen Eaglestaff added 12 points for West Virginia (11-5, 2-1 Big 12). Harlan Obioha had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds
Darryn Peterson led Kansas (11-5, 1-2) with 23 points. Tre White contributed 18 points and Melvin Council Jr. chipped in 11 points for the Jayhawks, who have dropped two of their last three games.
The Mountaineers used a 16-0 second-half run to break open a tightly contested game. Obioha’s emphatic dunk, and 3-pointers from Floyd and Huff’s gave West Virginia a 64-59 lead with 8:36 to play as Kansas missed nine consecutive shots.
White’s driving layup snapped the Mountaineers’ run as Kansas trailed 67-61 with 7:54 remaining. Huff had an immediate answer for the Mountaineers with a four-point play for a 71-61 lead with 6:41 left.
The Jayhawks scored 30 points in the paint in the first half, but the West Virginia defense forced them to the perimeter in the second half. Kansas had just six points inside after halftime and went 6 of 17 from 3-point range.
A 6-0 rally pulled Kansas within 63-67 with 3:09 to play. However, West Virginia used an Obioha putback and two free throws from Huff to extend its lead to 77-67 with 2:21 left.
In the first half, neither team held more than a four point advantage. During a string where West Virginia hit six straight field goals to take a 36-34 lead, Lorient scored seven straight Mountaineers’ points.
Kansas went on a 7-0 run in the last 1:16 of the first half. Peterson’s contested 3-pointer at the buzzer gave the Jayhawks a 43-39 lead at the break.
Early in the second half, White canned a 3-pointer for a 51-44 Kansas lead. But an Eaglestaff 3-pointer and Huff layup followed and the Mountaineers trailed 51-49 with 16:27 remaining.
It looked like Kansas had some breathing room when White’s 3-pointer put the Jayhawks up 59-51, but West Virginia’s game-defining run followed.
