No. 1 Kansas Falls at No. 11 West Virginia, 74-63

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MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Despite a late rally that included four 3-pointers in under three minutes, to­p-ranked Kansas ended a 13-game winning streak at the hands of No. 11 West Virginia on Tuesday night at WVU Coliseum, 74-63.

The Jayhawks (14-2, 3-1 Big 12) shot 42 percent from the field – including 50 percent from 3-point range (10-for-20) – to West Virginia’s 33 percent shooting clip, but turned the ball over a season-high 22 times against the Mountaineers’ press.

“West Virginia was ultra-quick and they were turned-up for tonight,” Bill Self said. “We didn’t attack West Virginia’s system very well. In practice I really thought we were prepared, but obviously we weren’t. Our coaching staff takes responsibility for that. We have good ball-handling guards, but we looked slow. They beat us on all the competitive plays – the second-shots, the 50-50 balls.”

Senior forward Perry Ellis scored 21 points on 8-of-14 shooting with seven rebounds for his fifth 20-point effort of the season. Ellis accounted for eight of KU’s 10 2-point field goals on the night.

Junior guards Frank Mason III and Wayne Selden Jr., added 12 and 11 points, respectively, but accounted for a combined two assists and 13 turnovers. The dynamic duo entered Tuesday with a combined 2.8 assist-to-turnover ratio this season.

West Virginia (14-1, 4-0) scored 33 points on 47 free throw attempts on the way to their first win against a No. 1-ranked team since 1983 (UNLV). Leading scorer Jaysean Paige registered 26 points on 6-of-13 shooting from the field and 14-of-17 shooting at the free throw line. The Mountaineers lead the country in steals and forced turnovers.

“Without being too negative, I think we are a little too full of ourselves,” Self admitted. “I don’t think we played hungry tonight or at Texas Tech on Saturday. We knew this would be a fight and I didn’t think we showed as much competitive juice as West Virginia did.”

Selden gave KU its first basket of the game with a 3-pointer 35 seconds into the contest – his first of three on the night. The Jayhawks and Mountaineers teetered back-and-fourth with eight lead changes in the first 10 minutes.

West Virginia took a 17-14 lead at the 11:41 mark of the first half off a 3-pointer from Nathan Adrian and slowly added to its lead, which would not be given up for the remainder of the night. Sophomore guard Devonte’ Graham made a 3-pointer with six seconds remaining in the first half to cut KU’s deficit to eight at halftime, 37-29.

Kansas went on a 9-0 run – of which seven points were scored by Ellis – midway through the second half to cut WVU’s lead to four, 43-39, with 14:06 remaining. But the Mountaineers kept KU at bay with seven second-half steals and registering 12 of their final 14 points scored from the free throw line.

NEXT UP
After two consecutive Big 12 road games, Kansas returns home to face TCU on Saturday afternoon (1 p.m., ESPN) in Allen Fieldhouse.

POSTGAME NOTES

KU STARTERS (SEASON/CAREER STARTS):
Jr. G Frank Mason III (16/55)
So. G Devonte’ Graham (14/14)
Jr. G Wayne Selden Jr. (16/87)
Sr. F Perry Ellis (16/87)
Sr. F Hunter Mickelson (9/34)

SERIES INFO
• Kansas now leads the all-time series with West Virginia, 4-3. The Mountaineers have won the last three series contests against KU in Morgantown.

ATTENDANCE: 12,097

KANSAS’ LOSS…
• Ends a 13-game winning streak, the longest since an 18-game winning streak during the 2012-13 season… Makes KU 2-1 in true road games and 7-2 in games not played in Allen Fieldhouse this season.

TEAM NOTES
• The Jayhawks ended the game by making three 3-pointers in the last 1:16 of regulation.
• KU’s 10 3-point field goals marks the seventh game the Jayhawks have total 10 or more treys in a game this season. The Jayhawks entered Tuesday ranked second in the Big 12 in 3-pointers per game (9.0).
• KU shot 41.7 percent from the field, and held WVU to 33.3 percent shooting from the field. Kansas falls to 14-1 on the season and just 346-32 during the Bill Self era when recording a higher shooting percentage than its opponent.
• KU committed a season-high 22 turnovers to West Virginia’s 11 turnovers. It is KU’s largest turnover deficit of the season (-11) and just the third time KU has recorded more turnovers than its opponent.
• Kansas has lost its last three games played in Morgantown, West Virginia. It is just the third time Kansas has lost three consecutive times on the road to the same conference opponent during the Big 12 era. KU lost three straight in Austin, Texas, against the Longhorns (2004, 06, 08) and lost three straight in Lubbock, Texas, against Texas Tech (2005, 07, 09).
• For the second consecutive game, Kansas has recorded 30 or more defensive rebounds. KU recorded 32 against both West Virginia and Texas Tech (1/9).
• Despite its win, West Virginia had just six assists to set a season low for a KU opponent this season.
• KU tied a season-low seven offensive rebounds, which also occurred against UCLA (11/24) in the Maui Invitational.
• Kansas held deficits in all five miscellaneous scoring statistics for the first time this season (points in the paint, 18-32; points off turnovers, 8-18; second-chance points, 9-16; fast-break points, 0-4; points off the bench, 10-40).
• West Virginia’s 14-point lead with 2:46 remaining in the second half tied KU’s largest deficit of the season with Oregon State’s 14-point lead with 1:48 remaining in the first half on Dec. 12. KU rallied to defeat Oregon State, 82-67, at Sprint Center.
• Frank Mason III’s seven turnovers marked the most turnovers by a Jayhawk in a game since Tyshawn Taylor had seven turnovers against Ohio State (12/10/2011).  
• WVU’s 33 free throws made are the most by a KU opponent since Texas drained 30 Feb. 1, 2014.
• WVU’s 47 free throw attempts are the most by a KU opponent since the Mountaineers attempted 40 shots from the free throw line on March 8, 2014.

­Senior F Perry Ellis
• Led Kansas with 21 points (8-14 FG, 4-6 FT), seven rebounds, three assists, and two steals in 38 minutes of action.
• Accounted for eight of KU’s 10 2-point field goals on the night.
• Fifth 20-point game of the season and 18th of his career.
• Is now averaging 20.0 points and 9.0 rebounds during Big 12 Conference play.
• In the first half, scored 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting.
• Now has 1,418 career points, remaining in 24th-place on KU’s all-time scoring list.
• Now has 722 career rebounds, remaining in 16th-place on KU’s all-time rebounding list.

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