West Virginia - Kansas

[BigErnMcCracken]

Kansas took 35 free throws, West Virginia shot 2.

That’s astounding. Huggins got tossed, as he should have.

 

[Travelman6]

Did not watch the game. Did Kansas drive a lot (like every possession), did WVirginia take a ton of jump shots?

Just the same, this strikes me as inexcusable....

 

[mdkhusky]

It's almost like when people complain about uconn FT disparity when we are allergic to going in the lane for contact

 

[beakumhawks]

I only watched part of the game, but if you look at the box score Azubuike of Kansas shot ten of the 35 free throws. Azubuike's game is down low, and he is a horrible free throw shooter, so most coaches tend to foul him when he gets the ball in the post. Graham of Kansas shot 9 free throws, but 4 of those were the double technical Huggie got at the end. KU had 14 fouls and West Virginia had 26. Considering West Virginia pretty much rapes the man bringing the ball down the court on every possession 26-14 in fouls does't seem that far out of line to me. The fighting Huggies were 14-26 from 3, so 42 of their 69 points came from deep. Having said that, 35-2 does seem quite strange.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

I only watched part of the game, but if you look at the box score Azubuike of Kansas shot ten of the 35 free throws. Azubuike's game is down low, and he is a horrible free throw shooter, so most coaches tend to foul him when he gets the ball in the post. Graham of Kansas shot 9 free throws, but 4 of those were the double technical Huggie got at the end. KU had 14 fouls and West Virginia had 26. Considering West Virginia pretty much rapes the man bringing the ball down the court on every possession 26-14 in fouls does't seem that far out of line to me. The fighting Huggies were 14-26 from 3, so 42 of their 69 points came from deep. Having said that, 35-2 does seem quite strange.

West Virginia doesn’t only shoot 2 free throws. Didn’t watch, but officiating must’ve been bad

 

[don356]

That West Virginia team just does not have any chemistry. They play hard, but they just do not mesh. They've gotten worse as the year has gone on.

 

[champs99and04]

I didn't see hardly any of the game, but I thought I also heard Kansas finished the game on a 19-3 run? That means the score would have been 66-58 at one point late in the game, which wouldn't be significant if not for the fact that West Virginia just endured a historic collapse at Phog Allen last season. Then there was the debacle against Gonzaga in the tournament (remember the final possession) and the blown lead to Kentucky this year.

35-2 sounds impossible to justify, but all told, West Virginia plays like they're bumper cars and seems to be deep in their own head late in big games. I don't know whether I'll laugh at their inevitable self-destruction in the tournament or simply feel for Huggins and what has been one of the best stories in college basketball the last couple years.

 

[minidarren]

I wish Kevin showed enough fire to get a double technical.

 

[Travelman6]

I wish Kevin showed enough fire to get a double technical.

He did at one point:

 

[BlueDogs]

The line was Kansas -3.5, and they covered despite being down 10 with 7 minutes left. I’m sure WVU fans are having a field day with “the fix is in” type stuff.

Makes you wonder any time there are massive deviations from the norm.

 

[Jaker]

B12 protecting KU, no surprise

 

[beakumhawks]

^^ I'm curious, why exactly would the B12 be protecting Kansas? That loss puts West Virginia on the bubble for the NCAA tournament. Kansas was a lock, regardless of the result. So if you believe in Conspiracy theories, which I don't, why would the B12 want Kansas to win this game? More teams in the tourney means more money for the conference, right?

One other thing to point out in that game is the Fighting Huggies had their defense extended out quite far, so Kansas attacked the rim much more, resulting in more fouls. 35-2 is a strange stat, I will admit, but making a statement like The B12 was protecting KU is ridiculous.

 

[AdamaNation]

That West Virginia team just does not have any chemistry. They play hard, but they just do not mesh. They've gotten worse as the year has gone on.

Fire Huggins.

 

[hoopsknowitall]

I only watched part of the game, but if you look at the box score Azubuike of Kansas shot ten of the 35 free throws. Azubuike's game is down low, and he is a horrible free throw shooter, so most coaches tend to foul him when he gets the ball in the post. Graham of Kansas shot 9 free throws, but 4 of those were the double technical Huggie got at the end. KU had 14 fouls and West Virginia had 26. Considering West Virginia pretty much rapes the man bringing the ball down the court on every possession 26-14 in fouls does't seem that far out of line to me. The fighting Huggies were 14-26 from 3, so 42 of their 69 points came from deep. Having said that, 35-2 does seem quite strange.

^^ I'm curious, why exactly would the B12 be protecting Kansas? That loss puts West Virginia on the bubble for the NCAA tournament. Kansas was a lock, regardless of the result. So if you believe in Conspiracy theories, which I don't, why would the B12 want Kansas to win this game? More teams in the tourney means more money for the conference, right?

One other thing to point out in that game is the Fighting Huggies had their defense extended out quite far, so Kansas attacked the rim much more, resulting in more fouls. 35-2 is a strange stat, I will admit, but making a statement like The B12 was protecting KU is ridiculous.

Any nonKU fan who follows basketball would argue that the Big12 is in the business of protecting KU since certainly have had their share of calls going on their side in the past years.

That being said West Virginia pretty much fouls on every possession....

 

[superjohn]

^^ I'm curious, why exactly would the B12 be protecting Kansas? That loss puts West Virginia on the bubble for the NCAA tournament. Kansas was a lock, regardless of the result. So if you believe in Conspiracy theories, which I don't, why would the B12 want Kansas to win this game? More teams in the tourney means more money for the conference, right?

One other thing to point out in that game is the Fighting Huggies had their defense extended out quite far, so Kansas attacked the rim much more, resulting in more fouls. 35-2 is a strange stat, I will admit, but making a statement like The B12 was protecting KU is ridiculous.

From one of my Jayhawk friends, "You don't win 71 straight Big XII titles by shooting same amount of free throws. But you do lose in 3rd round when you expect to get every call and refs call it fairly."

 

[beakumhawks]

You still have not answered my question. The BigXII is controlled by Texas. That point you really can't argue. So why would the conference go out of their way to favor Kansas basketball when financially it makes no sense for them to do so? I am genuinely curious.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I only watched part of the game, but if you look at the box score Azubuike of Kansas shot ten of the 35 free throws. Azubuike's game is down low, and he is a horrible free throw shooter, so most coaches tend to foul him when he gets the ball in the post. Graham of Kansas shot 9 free throws, but 4 of those were the double technical Huggie got at the end. KU had 14 fouls and West Virginia had 26. Considering West Virginia pretty much rapes the man bringing the ball down the court on every possession 26-14 in fouls does't seem that far out of line to me. The fighting Huggies were 14-26 from 3, so 42 of their 69 points came from deep. Having said that, 35-2 does seem quite strange.

People are quick to forget. Huggins gambles every game that the refs simply wont call fouls for every one his team commits. It was the same at Cinci. Those teams probably committed 60-70 fouls a game. The refs were often forced to just put the whistle away and let it all go.

Meanwhile, this KU team is overly soft on defense, and doesn’t commit many fouls. They need to fix that actually.

 

[minidarren]

He did at one point:

He launched a clipboard at MSG also, but very rarely works the refs.

 

[RoderickSpode]

He launched a clipboard at MSG also, but very rarely works the refs.

Yup, KO is good at letting his rage build and then blowing up at inopportune times (the clipboard/paper stack incident happened during an epic comeback against Maryland, killed our momentum, and probably cost us the game), rather than actually working the officials in a strategic way.

 

[FlakeyFoont]

I watched the game. KU down by 12 with 10 minutes left in the game and then made stops and drained clutch shots time after time in front of a packed house of screaming, delirous fans and ended up pulling off a remarkable comeback. I remember when there were UConn games like this not so long ago. Now when we go down by 12 the only suspense is how long before it becomes down by 20.

 

[BLUEDOGHOUSE]

^^ I'm curious, why exactly would the B12 be protecting Kansas? That loss puts West Virginia on the bubble for the NCAA tournament. Kansas was a lock, regardless of the result. So if you believe in Conspiracy theories, which I don't, why would the B12 want Kansas to win this game? More teams in the tourney means more money for the conference, right?

One other thing to point out in that game is the Fighting Huggies had their defense extended out quite far, so Kansas attacked the rim much more, resulting in more fouls. 35-2 is a strange stat, I will admit, but making a statement like The B12 was protecting KU is ridiculous.

I have a friend who was part of a team that represented JD Collins company when he was CEO of Hartford Concrete. This is before he became the NCO for the NCAA. This "guy" told me Collins would tell them all kinds of crazy stories regarding seriously corrupt officials (and laugh about it).

It is a subculture all to its own....this probably isn't the best place to go into further detail.