Juwan Staten didn't do the Jayhawks in at West Virginia -- KU did KU in
Juwan Staten walked. OK? Watch the tape from the final four seconds of Monday night at Morgantown in super-duper slow-motion. Then go ahead and throw something of little or no value against the wall, if that eases the pain a bit.
But then be done with it.
Because that wasn't why, ultimately, Kansas took one in the kidneys at West Virginia, 62-61. Oh, no.
Look, if you're itching to play the blame game, here's Exhibit A:
West Virginia offensive boards: 22
KU defensive boards: 21
And Exhibit B:
KU outside the 3-point arc: six for 11 (.545)
KU inside the 3-point arc: 18 for 38 (.474)
Of course, Perry Ellis got a Drew Brees-perfect rainbow of an outlet pass from Jamari Traylor (new Jayhawks football coach David Beaty just found his trigger man, by the way). Of course it was going to rim out.
Which brings us to Exhibit C:
KU's national rank at converting at the rim, according to Hoop-Math.com, before Monday: No. 258 (55.5 percent)
And, oh, what the hell, Exhibit D:
Cliff Alexander: Six minutes, one rebound, one foul
To some degree, Bill Self did this to himself. Or rather, Bob Huggins did it to Self by turning the screws on young Cliff in the first few possessions, therefore encouraging Self to stash his best post finisher and best rim defender out of sight and out of mind.
Ergo, Exhibit E:
Alexander's field-goal percentage on putbacks before Monday: 81.2
Ellis' putback percentage before Monday: 50.0
Traylor's putback percentage before Monday: 50.0
Wayne Selden's putback percentage before Monday: 16.7
Landen Lucas' putback percentage before Monday: 57.1
Now none of this is meant as a direct indictment on Ellis (19 points, five boards, two assists), who played well despite that painful finish, nor of the post combo of Traylor and Lucas (six points, 10 boards, three assists, one block), who kept the Jayhawks above water in the paint more often than not.
But then we go back to Exhibit A, and all those second chances for the Mountaineers, it leads us to Exhibit F:
KU's leaders in defensive rebounding percentage -- an estimate of total defensive rebounds grabbed relative to opportunities -- according to Sports-Reference.com as of Monday afternoon:
Kelly Oubre: 20.5
Alexander: 20.0
Lucas: 19.7
Ellis: 17.5
Hunter Mickelson: 16.4
Brannen Greene: 14.2
Lookin' good! Check out our gallery of Big 12 hoops cheerleaders.
Traylor: 11.4
Team Huggy Bear challenges your manhood, mountain style. They try to steal free possessions off the press, then scrap for second chances by crashing the boards. For all his muscle, Alexander's passing foibles -- and frustrations at recognizing opposing defenses -- have been well documented. Traylor has nowhere near Big Cliff's touch in the paint, but he knows where to put the rock and, more important, where not to.
To put it another way, Self decided a punt returner who fields every ball and then falls down for zero or minimal gain was a safer way to go than a speedster who can take it to the house but also has a tendency to sometimes lose the rock in the lights.
And that's fine. His prerogative. To paraphrase those old Scooby Doo cartoons, he might have gotten away with it, too, if it weren't for those meddling kids and the ice in Staten's veins.
(Replays would later show the senior West Virginia guard took at least three steps without a dribble in the process of sinking the game-winner, but if you're expecting Big 12 refs to spot that at game speed, there's a quarter waiting under your pillow from the Tooth Fairy in the morning.)
So Huggins gets to cash another $25,000 check for beating Kansas (21-4, 10-2 Big 12). And, just like the court-storming that gets under some fans' nerves, it's a compliment, in a backhanded sort of way. Especially when you consider Huggy Bear reportedly gets $10,000 for making the NCAA Tournament -- Monday night's win certainly helps lock up that front, pushing the Mountaineers to 20-6 -- and $20,000 for winning the Big 12 tourney. Priorities, people!
The evening ended like it started for KU: Chaotically. With 2:30 to go, KU up 59-57, Frank Mason saved an errant ball from the baseline by hurling it back into no-man's land; it was picked up by the Mountaineers, who zoomed the other way and found Jevon Carter on the left elbow for a trey that put the hosts up 60-59.
It harkened back to the Jayhawks' first seven, unfortunate possessions: One field-goal conversion, three turnovers. The Mountaineers, when they want to, make you earn every cent.
The hosts, no surprise, wanted it late Monday night. After a Mason layup cut the West Virginia lead to 12-6, the Mountaineers' press triggered a 7-2 run capped by Staten's layup, extending the lead to 19-8 and necessitating another Self timeout to try and calm the waters.
A few hours later, it would be the KU faithful who needed reassurance. The Jayhawks' lead over Iowa State (18-6, 8-4) in the standings is down to a game in the loss column, true, but here's the thing: The Cyclones have to go to No. 22 Oklahoma State (18-7) on Wednesday and Texas (17-8) on Saturday, while the Jayhawks get most of the week to regroup for a Saturday-Monday double-dip of TCU (15-10) at home over the weekend, then Kansas State (13-13) at the Octagon.
The Fighting Hoibergs are 3-4 in true road games, and 1-4 in true Big 12 road games. Nobody beats Aquaman in the water, but he'll have to try to leg this one out on dry land.
Mathematically, of course, anything's possible. And as Monday night reminded us, in this Big 12, anything usually is.
You can follow Sean Keeler on Twitter at @SeanKeeler or email him at seanmkeeler@gmail.com.
