College sports are unique in so many ways. The environments, the impact of momentum, the drama, it's all incredible, especially in college basketball when the calendar turns to March. At arguably the greatest venue in college basketball, Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kansas, with the Big 12 title on the line (in more ways than one), one of the greatest games of the college basketball season took place, a game that will not be forgotten any time soon. West Virginia dominated most of the game, but down the stretch Kansas scratched and clawed to get back into it, eventually forcing overtime and escaping with a win on Senior Night, edging the Mountaineers 76-69.
The game was tied at 6-6 early in the game. It wouldn't be tied again until the game went to overtime. West Virginia dominated the first half. They had a rebounding advantage of 23-9 at one point, just one example of the Mountaineers' stifling style of play in the opening half. KU looked lackadaisical and slow, not to mention inefficient, while WVU was running the floor and tiring out the Jayhawks for the entire first 20 minutes. The Mountaineers held the best three-point shooting team in the conference without a bucket from long range in the first half, while they were able to find open looks (with more regularity than Kansas, anyway) and took advantage of opportunities. At halftime, the score was 40-26 in favor of the boys from Morgantown, but as was seen just this past Monday night, anything can happen in the second half of a Big 12 basketball game.
Kansas did not start the second half well, as West Virginia continued to slow down the KU offensive attack. The true turning point came at the 10:00 minute mark of the second half, when Kansas was fouled and made a pair of free throws. rom that point forward, KU slowly chipped away at the West Virginia lead. Eventually, with the score only single digits, WVU was inbounding from under their own basket, and they botched a deep pass down the court, giving Kansas back the ball. A Frank Mason layup, a Jevon Carter free throw and a pair of makes from the charity stripe from Devonte' Graham sent the game to overtime in Lawrence.
After having been down 18 near the end of the first half, and trailing for nearly the entire game, Kansas took control during overtime. The teams exchanged baskets to open up the extra period, but the Jayhawks slowly pulled away, taking advantage of missed WVU free throws and turnovers, while also making their own free throws at the other end. West Virginia kept it close all the way, even when KU had seemingly wrapped everything up. Daxter Miles came up huge all night long for the Mountaineers, capping off his night with a long range three pointer to cut the KU lead to three, but that was as close as the Mountaineers would get. After a few more garbage time free throws, Kansas came out of the war of attrition that was their matchup with West Virginia, hanging on by a score of 76-69, winning the Big 12 Championship outright in the process.
Injuries and foul trouble was a huge factor all night long. West Virginia was missing their two senior leaders, specifically preseason Big 12 Player of the Year Juwan Staten. They were in constant foul trouble throughout the night, one of the main factors which kept the Jayhawks in the game. Kansas didn't have Cliff Alexander available for the second straight game, and they lost Perry Ellis to a knee injury late in the first half. As players continued to get banged up throughout the game for both teams, they were still able to put on a game for the ages.
Freshman Daxter Miles, Jr. was the game's high scorer, tossing in 23 points for West Virginia, including going 5/9 from 3-point land. Jonathan Holton added in a double-double, scoring 12 points and grabbing 10 boards, 5 of them on offense (a statistic in which West Virginia dominated Kansas in during the first half and most of the game). Jevon Carter led the Mountaineers in assists with three, however he did not score a single basket from the floor. He finished with four points. Missing free throws proved to be costly down the stetch for WVU, as a few more makes likely would have prevented overtime. They converted 16/28 free throw attempts on Tuesday night.
Kansas had 4 players score in double digits in their final home game of the season, led by 19 from Frank Mason (he also led the Jayhawks in assists with 3). Jamari Traylor had a career night, scoring 14 points and picking up 9 rebounds, also throwing down a monstrous dunk near the end of regulation. Traylor made the most of his extra playing time, seeing the floor more than usual due to Cliff Alexander and Perry Ellis not being able to get on the floor. KU has improved on their free throws lately, making plenty of crucial ones down the stretch Tuesday night (they finished 34/43 from the line). The Jayhawks were atrocious from beyond the arc, going 0/15 from 3-point territory for the game; however, this is the 14th consecutive game that Kansas has won in which they hit 1 or less 3-pointers (#13 came against Texas this past Saturday).
West Virginia played as hard as any team ever could in what is widely regarded as the hardest play to play on the road in college basketball, Allen Fieldhouse. They played their game and dominated for a large portion of the game. They pressed, they trapped, they rebounded offensively as well as anyone (in fact, as the best offensive rebounding team in the nation, they did it better than anyone else would). They just could not hold on at the end, a fate which many teams have been faced with in the 60 years of Allen Fieldhouse. The Mountaineers will not be earning a share of the Big 12 title this season, which is tough for a team that has had a great season. However, no matter where they end up being seeded in the NCAA Tournament, they will not be an easy out. This is a good team that can dominate with a favorable matchup.
There were fans who began to leave the Fieldhouse with under three minutes to go while Kansas was down multiple possessions. Clearly, these were people who are not aware of the incredible magic that can be seen throughout the season in the home of the Kansas Jayhawks. Win probability metrics will likely say that KU's chance of winning was miniscule at best as the night progressed, but great coaching and a team playing with passion, with an incredible home court advantage, can lead to amazing things, as Kansas exhibits year in and year out. The team has flaws, and they were on display Tuesday night. But even with arguably their best player, Perry Ellis, rendered ineefective for much of the game, other players were able to step up. Frank Mason continues to prove he's one of the nation's premier point guards, while Jamari Traylor had one of the best games of his career when he was needed the most. Kelly Oubre, Jr. came off the bench and contributed as well (the team's lone senior, Christian Garrett, started in his place), proving that the team can get plenty of production from a multitude of different outlets. The Jayhawks now own the Big 12 Championship outright for the 2014-15 season, just another milestone as a part of their remarkable streak of 11 straight conference titles.
West Virginia's final game will be on March 7 at home against Oklahoma State. Kansas' season finale will be on the same day, on the road against Oklahoma.