RaeQuan Battle helps West Virginia upset No. 3 Kansas

Field Level Media|published: Sat 20th January, 18:48 2024

Jan 20, 2024; Morgantown, West Virginia, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers guard RaeQuan Battle (21) shoots over Kansas Jayhawks guard Dajuan Harris Jr. (3) during the first half at WVU Coliseum. credits: Ben Queen-USA TODAY Sports

RaeQuan Battle scored 23 points and Pat Suemnick added 20 as West Virginia upset No. 3 Kansas 91-85 on Saturday in a highly entertaining Big 12 clash in Morgantown, W.Va.

Kerr Kriisa chipped in with 15 points, including four free throws in the final 20 seconds as the Mountaineers (7-11, 2-3 Big 12) notched their second win over a Top 25 team in their last three outings. They were coming off a loss at No. 15 Oklahoma but had a win over then-No. 25 Texas a week ago.

Big 12 scoring leader Kevin McCullar Jr. led Kansas with 24 points and Hunter Dickinson had 19. Nicolas Timberlake had 12 points and KJ Adams Jr. added 11 for the Jayhawks (15-3, 3-2 Big 12) in a game that featured 10 ties and 18 lead changes.

After a blistering first half that ended in a 51-51 tie, things slowed down in the second with the two teams trading baskets for much of the period until Battle's jumper and free throw gave the Mountaineers a 77-70 lead with 6:49 left in the game.

The Jayhawks went through a 0-of-4 shooting drought that ended with McCullar's corner 3-pointer that closed Kansas' deficit to 78-75 with just over five minutes left.

Less than two minutes later, they Jayhawks took advantage of consecutive West Virginia turnovers to close to within 80-79 in McCullar's fast-break layup with 3:24 remaining. Adams' two free throws with 2:41 left put Kansas in front 81-80.

Suemnick's layup put West Virginia up for good 82-81 with 2:06 remaining and the Mountaineers cashed in on free throws by Quinn Slazinski, Noah Farrakhan, and Kriisa down the stretch to preserve the win.

The two teams opened the game putting on a 3-point shooting clinic. Entering the game at 30.3 percent on the season, the Mountaineers started 9-for-11 from long distance on their way to a 9-of-14 first half while the Jayhawks started 5-of-7 and finished the period 6-of-12.

Their 51 points was a season high for the first half for the Mountaineers. Kansas owned the paint by a 24-12 margin.

Kansas shot 61.3 percent in the half to West Virginia's 59.3. Overall, the Jayhawks shot 53.3 percent West Virginia made 51.8 percent.

—Field Level Media

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