Field Level Media
Feb 25, 2023
Dajuan Harris collected 17 points, six assists and a career-high six steals to fuel No. 3 Kansas to a 76-74 victory over West Virginia on Saturday in Lawrence, Kan.
Harris made 7 of 9 shots from the floor for the Jayhawks (24-5, 12-4 Big 12), who have won six in a row and eight of their last nine games.
Kansas moved into sole possession of first place in the Big 12 with its win and Texas' 81-72 loss to Baylor earlier on Saturday.
Gradey Dick drained five 3-pointers to highlight his 16-point performance, and Kevin McCullar Jr. also contributed 16 points for the Jayhawks.
Kansas shot 54.9 percent from the floor (28 of 51) and 50 percent from 3-point range (10 of 20), but it made just 58.8 percent from the foul line (10 of 17).
West Virginia's Erik Stevenson scored of 16 his 23 points in the second half. Tre Mitchell finished with 20 points and seven rebounds, and Kedrian Johnson had 15 points but eight turnovers for the Mountaineers (16-13, 5-11), who have lost four of their last five games overall and fell to 0-11 all-time at Allen Fieldhouse.
Johnson made a layup and two free throws before Emmitt Matthews Jr. converted a dunk to cut Kansas' lead to 75-74 with 41 seconds left in the second half.
Jalen Wilson sank one of two free-throw attempts to allow West Virginia a chance, but Joe Toussaint was called for traveling with 0.4 seconds remaining to effectively end the game.
Stevenson missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer at one end before McCullar banked home a 3-pointer at the other end to push Kansas' lead to 67-61 with 5:45 remaining in the second half.
Stevenson sank a 3-pointer to bring the Mountaineers within three with 3:50 to play, but KJ Adams and McCullar each made a layup to push the Jayhawks' advantage to 75-68 with 2:20 left.
West Virginia claimed a 44-43 lead on Stevenson's jumper before Kansas responded with a 13-4 flourish. Dick sank a pair of 3-pointers and McCullar also converted from beyond the arc in the sequence.
--Field Level Media