On the road tomorrow, Kansas basketball will look to pick up their first road win in over a month. That task will require the Jayhawks to lock in on defense.
The last time Kansas basketball had a run-in with West Virginia, they found a 14 point home win. Since then, they’ve taken a nosedive in the rankings and have lost their last four road matchups.
Coming off a strong Sunflower Showdown victory, Kansas will look to continually push their season in a better direction. While a road trip to Morgantown will have its share of challenges, keeping Miles McBride under control will be its separate test.
McBride leads the Mountaineers in scoring averaging just over 15 points per game, as well as being one of the best shooters in the conference.
To stop McBride, Kansas is going to have to keep him on the outside.
Recently, Miles has struggled to knock down the three-ball. Against Iowa State, he went 0-6 against a Cyclone defense that has been relatively disappointing this season.
Keeping him contained on the outside will be a tough job, as he brings a lot of speed to the Mountaineers’ offense. This enables him to be a lethal defender in transition, so it will be crucial for the Jayhawks to stop him from finding any breakaway slams like this one against the Sooners.
If he has a big day, Kansas will need to keep up the pace offensively. This means the Jayhawks we’ll need to get shots clicking.
Against the Wildcats on Tuesday, Christian Braun and Jalen Wilson were starting to scratch the surface from the perimeter. Having these two finding more success against West Virginia will be a must to fight back offensively.
With a change of pace, Kansas could be able to find a new direction with a win against the Mountaineers, however, it’s not going to come easy without increased offensive production.