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MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — A strong first half for West Virginia was undone by a second half that was filled with defensive lapses and cold shooting as the Mountaineers dropped their third consecutive game, 81-67 at the WVU Coliseum.
WVU (5-10, 0-2 Big 12) was outscored by 16 points in the second half, leading to the Mountaineers’ third consecutive loss.
“What K-State did really in the second half is they even turned up the pressure a little more defensively on us. Consequently, it showed in every statistical category in that second half,” said WVU head coach Josh Eilert.
“A lot of that is on me. I will take blame for it. I told those guys in the locker room that is how you are going to win games with complete buy-in from everybody and figure out how we make it a struggle for other teams to guard.”
“This league is incredible. So anytime you can get a win, especially one on the road, you are just super-thankful. You try to figure out how you can keep getting better,” said Kansas State head coach Jerome Tang.
The Mountaineers closed the first half on a 7-1 run to take a 42-40 lead into the locker room. WVU shot 48 percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes and they connected on 6-of-12 shots from 3-point range.
RaeQuan Battle scored 18 points in the opening stanza as he went 8-of-9 from the free throw line. However, Battle was held to three points after halftime. He finished with a team-best 21 points.
“They were kind of sticking with me in the beginning. They weren’t necessarily double-teaming me. But in the second half, they caught on to what we were doing and started double-teaming,” said WVU guard RaeQuan Battle.
“As soon as I get it, I have to start making better plays instead of throwing a couple up. I forced a few, for sure.”
While WVU sputtered on the offensive end in the second half, K-State used their frontcourt size to outrebound WVU 35-22. The Wildcats (12-3, 2-0 Big 12) scored 44 points in the paint, 11 of those came from second chance opportunities.
“On the defensive end, we just have to be tougher mentally and physically and just learn to guard your yard,” Battle said.
“There were a lot of communication errors out there,” Eilert said. “Guys were running into handoffs. Guys were getting back cut. That’s something that is easy to point at and say correct that. But a lot of that is built in the summer and you keep on grinding that thing as you go.”
Kansas State used scoring runs of 9-1 and 12-2 to build a 71-56 lead with 4:31 to play. WVU used an 7-0 burst to trim the deficit to eight points. But the Mountaineers could not draw any closer down the stretch.
WVU played their fifth consecutive game without their only true center in Jesse Edwards. His rehab continues from the broken wrist he suffered last month in the game against UMass.
“That was a main concern this summer, trying to find a backup [center] and we never did. It is even harder when you lose your only 5-man on the floor,” Eilert said.
For the first time this season, Pat Suemnick was a part of the starting lineup. He started in place in Quinn Slazinski.
“It is no secret Quinn [Slazinski] was struggling to make shots,” Eilert said. “I thought maybe with coming off the bench might give him a spark with a different group of guys out on the floor at the same time. Pat gave us two really solid games.”
Guards Kerr Kriisa and Noah Farrakhan each scored 11 points. Kobe Johnson added 9 points in 19 minutes off the bench.
Cam Carter paced the Wildcats with a 23-point effort. David N’Guessan (17), Arthur Kaluma (17) and Will McNair, Jr. (12) also scored in double figures for the visitors.
WVU will pass the midway point of the regular season when host Texas Saturday at 6 p.m. The Mountaineers remain in search of their first victory over a power conference opponent.
“We have until the [Big 12] Tournament, pretty much,” Battle said. “We have all that time. We get Jesse back in about three or four games. We just hopefully want to win a couple of those games until he gets back.”
“We are like that shooter right now in a slump,” Eilert said. “We just need to see one go in and build some confidence because we’ve had a couple hard losses that didn’t go our way that probably would have gone a long way with this team.”
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