May 5, 2024

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West Virginia defeats No. 3 Kansas in upset in Morgantown

West Virginia defeats No. 3 Kansas in upset in Morgantown

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — RaeQuan Battle scored 23 points and grabbed nine rebounds, Patrick Swemnick added a career-high 20 points and West Virginia beat No. 3 Kansas 91-85 on Saturday.

Fans stormed the field after the Mountaineers (7-11, 2-3 Big 12) improved to 7-5 against Kansas in Morgantown and snapped a six-game losing streak in the series.

West Virginia set the pace with a barrage of early three-point shooting and outscored the Jayhawks for key free throws at the end.

With No. 9 Baylor also losing Saturday to Texas, there are now 21 losses by top-10 teams on the road against unranked opponents this season. That matches the most losses during a January in the AP Poll era, tying the 21 losses in the 1965-66 season, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.

Kansas (15-3, 3-2) trailed most of the second half until KJ Adams hit two free throws for an 81-80 lead with 2:41 remaining. Suemnick responded with a bank shot on Hunter Dickinson 35 seconds later to give the Mountaineers the lead for good.

West Virginia achieved the victory by scoring nine of 10 free throws in the last 34 seconds.

Keir Krysa added 15 points for the Mountaineers.

Kevin McCullar Jr. led Kansas with 24 points and Dickinson scored 19. Freshman Johnny Furphy hit three 3-pointers and had three rebounds in the first four minutes but went 22 minutes before scoring again and finished with 13 points.

The Mountaineers, the worst three-point shooting team in the Big 12, made 12 of 21 (57%) from beyond the arc, including nine of their first 11 points.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.