WVU upsets No. 3 Kansas, 91-85
Kevin Kinder/BlueGoldNews.com
MORGANTOWN, W.Va — There may have been three or four inches of snow outside the WVU Coliseum with sub-freezing temperatures, but inside it was as hot as the lava flowing out of a volcano as West Virginia and No. 3 Kansas engaged in a pulsating, heart-stopping game that had a little bit of everything as the Mountaineers finally learned who they are and what they can be.
After a first half in which no one could miss a shot, West Virginia reached far deeper inside itself than Kansas and pulled off the stunning upset, 91-85, with 12,208 brave souls who may have come in to get out of the cold but ended up turning up the heat that allowed the Mountaineers to come out of a stretch of three games against ranked teams with two victories.
When the final buzzer went off as WVU had willed itself to finish stronger than Kansas, the student section surged onto the floor and surrounded the celebrating players as “Take Me Home, Country Roads” blared through the Coliseum sound system.
If storming the court costs WVU a $25,000 fine, as it recently did Central Florida when it beat Kansas, President Gordon Gee will gladly pay it.
“Great day to be a Mountaineer,” said WVU’s interim coach Josh Eilert, who wound up winning the battle of wits with Hall of Fame coach Bill Self. “That one felt good. That is what our guys needed for the confidence to start snowballing in the right direction.
“It’s one thing to get a top 25 win against Texas. It’s another thing to beat a Hall of Fame coach and a top-5 program at home. Hopefully, that goes a long way for our confidence in terms of moving forward and continuing the grind through the Big 12 because it really is a grind.”
This had far less to do with a game plan than it had to with attitude.
RaeQuan Battle scored 23 points and had eight rebounds and Pat Suemnick, who seems to grow bigger and better each moment he’s on the court, had 20 points and six rebounds as he outgunned Kansas’ All-America center Hunter Dickinson, who had 19 points and only five rebounds and disappeared in the second half as he scored only six.
In reality, the game came down to Suemnick vs. Dickinson, as Suemnick knew it would be coming in. He was well aware of the plaudits that fall upon Dickinson while he is something of an afterthought.
“I don’t think about his accolades or anything,” Suemnick said. “I’m watching films and thinking about his weaknesses. He’s tall, OK, but he’s slow or he’s lazy. I’m thinking about how I can go get a bucket.”
When asked if he felt he outplayed Dickinson, Suemnick replied: “All I know is we got the win.”
Kansas had problems getting to Morgantown with the snowstorm and did not have the normal shoot-around teams have before playing a game. They would regret it.
“We just wanted it more.” Suemnick said. “Coach told us they didn’t even have a shootaround today. I’m sitting there thinking they are looking right over us. It kind of lights up that little chip on your shoulder and I’m like, all right, let’s go take it from them.”
And take it to them they did.
The first half was nothing more than target practice for both teams, as they went to the locker room tied 51-51. West Virginia shot 59.3% for the half with an incredible 64.3% from 3.
“We couldn’t guard them, and we didn’t come prepared, I don’t think, to defend against guys who are really good shooters and can go get their own, such as Battle,” Self said.
In the end, though, it came down to free throws and rebounds, as it often does.
“The Big 12 is brutal, but we’re all really matched up, so it comes down to the rebounds and free throws at the end of the game. You are kind of playing like chess,” Quinn Slazinski said after playing a huge roll down the stretch.
In fact, it was two tremendous offensive rebounds, one by Battle and the other by Slazinski on his own missed free throw that probably beat Kansas.
Slazinski was at the free throw line with WVU up, 83-81, and had a chance to make the lead four by making two shots with 34 seconds left but missed the second free throw. It mattered not, though, as he somehow grabbed the rebound that bounced off to his right.
“Basketball players do weird things to get themselves in the right mindset. I grew up in Sugarland (Texas) and we had a gym there. My dad would tell me you got to shoot these like they are to win the National Championship free throws,” Slazinski said.
“So now, every time I shoot free throws, I picture I’m in that same gym and it puts my mind at ease. Sometimes you got to try to trick yourself to get stuff done. So I have to look back to 7th grade shooting free throws. It’s still 15 feet from the rim,” he said.