Shorthanded Mountaineers Knocks Off No. 7 Jayhawks

West Virginia rolls into Lawrence and upsets seventh-ranked Kansas

Dec 31, 2024; Lawrence, Kansas, USA; Kansas Jayhawks guard Rakease Passmore (4) and West Virginia Mountaineers center Eduardo Andre (0) fight for a loose ball during the first half at Allen Fieldhouse. / Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

Lawrence, KS – West Virginia remained without senior forward Tucker DeVries and were without starting forward Amani Hansberry heading into the Big 12 Conference opener against No. 7 Kansas but the Mountaineers (10-2, 1-0) held the Jayhawks (9-3, 0-1) to 38.7% shooting from the field and pulled off the upset Tuesday afternoon 62-61.

West Virginia held Kansas scoreless for the first five minutes of action and took a 9-0 lead before Kansas senior guard Zeke Mayo ended the drought but a lay-in by senior guard Toby Okani and senior center Eduardo Andre followed with a dunk for eight of his 12 first half points to extend the Mountaineer run for a 13-3 advantage at the 12:51 mark of the first half.

Kansas would get within six at the midway point of the first half, but the Mountaineers put together a 12-3 run with freshman guard Jonathan Powell capping it off with a corner three for a 25-10 lead with 5:45 left to play in the half.

The Jayhawks responded with a 6-0 run to cut the WVU lead to single digits, but sophomore guard Sincere Harris hit three floaters to extend the Mountaineer lead and take a 33-20 into halftime.

Jonathan Powell opened the second half with a three and Andre followed with a layup to put WVU 18 at the 18:04 mark.

After Powell hit a jumper to put West Virginia back up 15, the Mountaineers were held scoreless for over three and a half minutes before senior guard Javon Small hit a floater in the lane for a 10-point lead midway through the second half.

West Virginia remained cold from the field, shooting 1-11 from the floor and Kansas stretched its run to 15-2 to cut the WVU lead to two, 50-48 with 6:18 remaining in the game.

West Virginia freshman guard KJ Tenner ended the Kansas run with a bucket as the shot clock expired, then Yesufu followed with a three to extend the Mountaineer lead to seven.

Following a contested jumper from Small to put the Mountaineers up six, Mayo buried a three and senior center Hunter Dickinson got the offensive putback to get the Jayhawks within one with 35 seconds left to play in the game.

Kansas stole the inbound pass and senior forward KJ Adams missed the contested layup and Small gathered the rebound and was fouled with 26 seconds remaining in the game and hit both free throws to push the lead to three.

Mayo followed with a drive to the basket and was fouled to tie the game at 61 with 15 seconds remaining in the game.

Javon Small brought the ball up the floor went to the left wing, pump faked and drew the foul with 1.8 seconds left on the clock. Small missed the first but made the second shot as the Mountaineers hold on for the 62-61 victory, marking West Virginia's first win at Allen Fieldhouse.