West Virginia's Big 12 Tournament run Derailed

No. 6 Jayhawks pound Mountaineers in the Big 12 Conference quarterfinals

The West Virginia Mountaineers (16-17) fell to the sixth-ranked Kansas Jayhawks (25-6) 87-63 in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Conference Thursday evening. West Virginia guard Malik Curry led all scorers with 19 points, and All-Big 12 Conference Player of the Year, Jayhawks guard Ochai Agbaji scored a team-high 18 points. 

Kansas started the game on an 11-2 run, forcing West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins to take a timeout at the 15:16 mark. The Mountaineers began the contest shooting 0-8 from the floor before forward Pauly Paulicap went to work in the paint, banking in the contested bucket for West Virginia's first field goal out of the timeout. 

West Virginia trailed 19-4 midway through the first half when guard Taz Sherman drove the lane, received contact from multiple Jayhawks before missing a tough shot at the rim, then visibly voiced his frustrations to official Doug Sirmons. As a result, he was assessed a technical foul. Head coach Bob Huggins injected himself into the conversation, and he was immediately given two technicals and ejected from the game. 

After six free throws and the ball, Kansas led 24-4. 

In the first half, the Mountaineers were 5-31 from the field while Kansas shot 48.4% from the floor, with Ochai Agbaji leading all scorers with 11 points as the Jayhawks held a 41-19 advantage at the break. 

Kansas Jayhawks forward David McCormack (33) handles the ball while defended by West Virginia Mountaineers guard Malik Curry (10) in the first half at T-Mobile Center / Amy Kontras-USA TODAY Sports

West Virginia continued to battle, coming out of halftime, going a 7-0 run to get within 15 before head coach Bill Self called a timeout. Ochai answered on the following possession with a drive, the bucket, and the foul, pushing the lead back to 18. 

The Mountaineers continued to ramp up the defense and Sherman forced back-to-back turnovers, as Malik Curry and Jalen Bridges were the beneficiaries for easy buckets to cut the deficit 14 with 11:20 left to play in the game. 

However, West Virginia went five minutes without a field goal as Kansas pushed its lead to 26 and coasted to an 87-63 victory to knock out the Mountaineers.  

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