Brandon Knapper's Status for Kansas State Game

Is the Mountaineer guard set to return today?

Photo By Ben Queen-USA Today Sports

The Mountaineers are coming off of a tough road loss in Lubbock against the Texas Tech Red Raiders on Wednesday night, a game in which sophomore guard Brandon Knapper did not play.

Prior to the game, the university released a statement saying that Knapper would not be playing due to an illness. Although he is not back to feeling 100%, West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins thinks he could play today vs Kansas State. "He was good yesterday. He had the flu, I mean he doesn't look good, he's lost weight and stuff, but he looks good. Shot it pretty good yesterday, actually."

In 18 games this season, Knapper is averaging 3.6 points, 0.8 assists and 0.8 rebounds per game. Yes, Knapper is not the Mountaineers most important piece to the puzzle, but he is however, another bullet in Huggins's holster. He currently sees a little under ten minutes per game and is only shooting at a 32% clip, but can provide the offense with a much needed boost from time to time.

With Jordan McCabe's continued struggles, the Mountaineers need multiple guards off of the bench to help pick up the lack of production from their starter. The problem for Huggins is, he doesn't have anyone that can consistently shoot it, so having everyone available is key. The more guys he is able to roll out there, the chances of one of them being able to hit shots increase.

West Virginia and Kansas State are set to tip-off at 2 p.m. on ESPN2.

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