Kansas basketball: Jayhawks get social media love for big road win

Kansas basketball rallied for a huge Big 12 road victory Monday in Morgantown. Social media shared the love on the Jayhawks 71-66 victory.

Bill Self and his Kansas basketball team avoided a fifth straight loss in Morgantown Monday night. The thrilling come from behind win was almost as impressive as last season’s Allen Fieldhouse victory over the Mountaineers.  This victory was extra sweet because few expected the Jayhawks could hang with the Mountaineers.  The Press Virginia style would overwhelm this year’s team.

The Jayhawks certainly looked a little overwhelmed early. In the first minutes, the Mountaineers scored from 3, forced KU into a 5-second call on the inbounds pass, blocked a pair of shots and grabbed a rebound for an easy basket. In addition, the Jayhawks missed two layups and threw the ball away twice.

As a matter of fact, Malik Newman had three turnovers in the first 7 minutes. (Newman’s big rebound and late free throw made up for the miscues) In addition, KU had 8 turnovers in the first 13 minutes but only 5 the rest of the way. The Mountaineers took advantage of the mistakes and scored 11 points off turnovers and got 10 second chance points in the first 20 minutes.

The first half was difficult to watch. Fortunately the Jayhawks showed some mental toughness and didn’t give up. The second half started slow but as the clock wound down to the final 9 minutes you could feel the momentum shift in favor of crimson and blue.

Former Jayhawks showed they were paying attention to the huge victory.

Next: Big win in Morgantown for Jayhawks

The Jayhawks went on a 20-5 run in the final minutes. Beyond Svi Mykhailiuk’s 17 and Devonte Graham’s 16 points, every member of the team made significant contributions to the win. The team played outstanding defense, hustled for loose balls, raced to grab rebounds and hit big free throws. The win moved Kansas basketball into the driver’s seat in the Big 12 Conference race.