WVU Basketball Splits Home Games with Kansas State and Baylor

By: Justin Walker & Shanna Rose | WV Sports Chat

Win Over Kansas State

Honor Huff scored 17 points as West Virginia outlasted Kansas State 59-54 on Tuesday night, January 27, at the Hope Coliseum.

The Mountaineers went scoreless for five minutes and fell behind 7-0 before Chance Moore’s dunk at 14:11 ended the drought.

WVU made only 2 of its first 13 shots, then connected on six straight and used a 21-9 run over the final 8:37 to lead 28-22 at halftime.

In the second half, the Mountaineers built a 36-26 advantage before the Wildcats answered with an 8-0 run. Kansas State later used another surge to take a 49-45 lead with 4:30 remaining.

Treysen Eaglestaff snapped another WVU scoring lull and drilled a go-ahead 3-pointer with 2:08 left to put the Mountaineers ahead 50-49. Huff followed with a step-back 3 to extend the lead to 54-49 with 36 seconds remaining.

P.J. Haggerty knocked down a 3-pointer to pull the Wildcats within two before Eaglestaff converted a three-point play to push the lead back to five. Eaglestaff and Huff sealed the victory at the free-throw line.

“I thought the play of the game was Trey’s offensive rebound putback-and-one,” WVU head coach Ross Hodge said. “I think that speaks to his growth as a player, as a competitor and as a winner.”

Eaglestaff finished with 12 points and nine rebounds. Brenen Lorient scored 10 points, and Moore added nine.

The Mountaineers held a 38-31 rebounding edge but committed 13 turnovers, which Kansas State converted into 18 points.

Haggerty led the Wildcats with 16 points, all in the second half. David Castillo added 15, and Nate Johnson finished with nine.

Loss to Baylor

Cameron Carr finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds, and Baylor snapped a four-game losing streak with a 63-53 victory over West Virginia on Saturday afternoon at Hope Coliseum.

Carr made 6 of 11 shots, including two 3s, for the Bears (12-9, 2-7 Big 12), who won for just the second time in nine games. Obi Agbim also had 16 points and four assists; Tounde Yessoufou added 11.

Brenen Lorient led the Mountaineers (14-8, 5-4) with a game-high 19 points. No other WVU player reached double figures. Jasper Floyd grabbed nine boards.

Baylor jumped out to a 15-5 lead in the opening five minutes. Treysen Eaglestaff buried back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Mountaineers their first lead at 20-17 with eight minutes remaining in the first half, but Carr answered with a four-point play two minutes later to spark a 17-8 run for the Bears. Baylor carried a 38-30 advantage into halftime.

Carr and Dan Skillings Jr. scored the first two baskets after the break to push the Bears’ lead to 12. WVU responded with a 14-5 spurt, capped by Chance Moore’s rebound basket, to pull within 47-44 with 11:29 to play.

Baylor’s Caden Powell made two free throws for the only points by either team over the next seven minutes before Yessoufou hit a jumper as the shot clock expired to steady the Bears down the stretch. Baylor closed the game on a 16-9 run.

The Mountaineers shot 36 percent from the field and went 5 of 19 from 3-point range. The Bears finished at 45.5 percent overall and hit 9 of 22 from beyond the arc.

The loss snapped WVU’s 16-game home winning streak dating back to last season.

Next, the Mountaineers travel to Cincinnati on Thursday as they look to bounce back.