5 stats that popped for Kansas in a crucial win at West Virginia

photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas forward Mitch Lightfoot (44) lays out to try to grab a loose ball with West Virginia forward Sagaba Konate (50) during the first half, Monday, Jan. 15, 2018 at WVU Coliseum in Morgantown, West Virginia.

photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas forward Mitch Lightfoot (44) lays out to try to grab a loose ball with West Virginia forward Sagaba Konate (50) during the first half, Monday, Jan. 15, 2018 at WVU Coliseum in Morgantown, West Virginia.

The idea of a Kansas basketball victory Monday night at West Virginia seemed somewhere in the realm of debatable to unfeasible during the Jayhawks’ unproductive first half.

Incredibly, KU emerged as an unlikely victor, 71-66, by withstanding the Mountaineers’ physical defense early on and eventually achieving the type of levelheaded play it needed to win at WVU Coliseum for the first time in five years.

Scouring through the final numbers, here are five statistics that stood out for Kansas, and made the improbable comeback from a 16-point first-half deficit possible.

Points off turnovers

Who would have thought Kansas would ever come out of a 40-minute battle with Bob Huggins’ Mountaineers having posted fewer turnovers and more points off turnovers than “Press Virginia”?

Three of KU’s previous four opponents won the points off turnovers battle against these same Jayhawks. Entering Monday’s game at West Virginia, Kansas was losing that category by an average of 4.4 points a game in Big 12 play.

Nevertheless, the Jayhawks beat WVU at what Huggins’ teams typically do best, turning 16 Mountaineers mistakes into 21 points. West Virginia scored 16 off of KU’s 13 turnovers. That’s only a five-point swing in KU’s favor, but it sure came in handy in a five-point road win.

Coming into the Big Monday showdown, West Virginia was out-scoring opponents in this category by an average of 23.4-12.1 a game.

Kansas made seven of its nine steals in the second half, with Svi Mykhailiuk and Lagerald Vick coming away with two apiece. WVU totaled 11 turnovers over the final 20 minutes.

The visitors appeared bound for a disastrous night on the turnover front, with eight giveaways in the game’s first 10 minutes, but only committed five more turnovers in the final 30 minutes of play.

Crunch-time defense

photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas center Udoka Azubuike (35) defends against a shot from West Virginia guard Jevon Carter (2) during the second half, Monday, Jan. 15, 2018 at WVU Coliseum in Morgantown, West Virginia.

Kansas trailed by nine before it held West Virginia to just six points over the course of the game’s final 5:53.

Head coach Bill Self has been waiting all season to see this team make consistent stops and the Jayhawks couldn’t have picked a better time or place to show they had it in them.

WVU missed eight of its final 11 field-goal attempts and turned the ball over three times as Kansas turned up its defense and finished the night on a 20-6 run.

3-point defense

Speaking of KU’s defense, the Jayhawks provided enough hindrances beyond the arc that West Virginia converted just five 3-pointers all night — its second-lowest total of the season. Even better for Kansas, it held the Mountaineers to its lowest 3-point field goal percentage of the year: 18.5 percent, on 5-for-27 shooting.

That number also qualified as the lowest 3-point percentage by a KU opponent this season. Foes had made 32.8 percent from beyond the arc in the Jayhawks’ previous 17 games.

WVU really struggled from deep in the second half, making just 1 of 13 tries — a measly 7.7 percent.

Senior scoring

photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas guard Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk (10) puts up a three from the corner against West Virginia forward Lamont West (15) during the second half, Monday, Jan. 15, 2018 at WVU Coliseum in Morgantown, West Virginia.

The two KU players who had experienced more road losses at WVU than any of their teammates, seniors Devonte’ Graham and Mykhailiuk made sure they finally left The Mountain State victorious.

The duo basically traded scoring responsibilities for the final eight-and-a-half minutes to complete the comeback. Although Mykhailiuk struggled with three turnovers in that span, he tried to make up for it by going 3-for-3 from the floor and 4-for-4 on free throws, scoring 12 of his 17 points in that stretch.

Graham provided eight points for KU in the same span, which got rolling in the right direction with an and-one layup by the senior leader. Graham also nailed a 3 and made another lay-in in the final five minutes, finishing with 16 points in his first win at WVU Coliseum.

Mykhailiuk and Graham accounted for 20 of KU’s final 28 points.

Second-half second-chance points

Although WVU missed 18 field goals in the final 20 minutes and grabbed seven for offensive rebounds, the home team wasn’t able to feast on second-chance points down the stretch.

In the second half, that category, another staple of Huggins’ teams, only provided the Mountaineers with four points.

It was another key area Kansas had to address, after WVU scored 10 second-chance points in the first half.

More news and notes from Kansas vs. West Virginia

By the Numbers: Kansas 71, West Virginia 66