Connect with us

Kansas

West Virginia's comeback bid comes up short, as Kansas State remained perfect in OT – Dominion Post

Published

on

West Virginia's comeback bid comes up short, as Kansas State remained perfect in OT – Dominion Post


MORGANTOWN — West Virginia nearly pulled off the comeback of a lifetime Monday night.

Nearly.

Instead, it was Kansas State that ended up making history, winning its 12th consecutive overtime game in a 94-90 victory inside Bramlage Coliseum.

The 12 straight overtime wins dates back to last season, and K-State (17-11, 7-8 Big 12) was money again, making 3 of 4 shots and 8 of 10 free throws in the extra period.

Advertisement

BOX SCORE

“It’s disappointing, very disappointing,” WVU head coach Josh Eilert said on his radio postgame show. “To come in here and be that close, you’re one bounce away or one timely call away.”

Over the first 27 minutes of the game, WVU (9-19, 4-11) getting this game into overtime wasn’t an option.

Kansas State, which entered the game as the worst 3-point shooting team in the Big 12, of course came right out of the shoot and hit 11 of 19 from behind the arc.

“We can’t dig ourselves a hole like that,” Eilert said. “Their guys were backing us down and getting a two-footer and we didn’t have hands up on the shooters or getting to the shooters.

Advertisement

“We couldn’t get a rebound. Nothing was going right. We had to throw our game plan out pretty quick in the first half.”

By the time there was just 13 minutes left in regulation, K-State had its biggest lead of 66-41.

That sounded just about right, as WVU entered the game without a victory away from Morgantown this season, with some of its more lopsided losses coming on the road.

And then RaeQuan Battle and Kerr Kriisa teamed up and said, ‘Let’s try and change all of that.”

Kriisa started making 3-pointers of his own — he finished with five of them in all to finish with a season-high 25 points — and Battle got to a point where it didn’t matter if he was being hounded by a K-State defender.

Advertisement

He hit off-balanced threes and then took off a couple of steps below the foul line and threw down a thunderous dunk. Battle finished with 28 points and was 6 of 9 from 3-point range.

It was the ninth time in 18 games this season Battle scored more than 20 points.

“I challenged them at halftime, and give them credit, they came out and responded,” Eilert said.

In what ended up being a 31-7 run in just under 11 minutes, Seth Wilson hit a key 3-pointer and Quinn Slazinski added a key bucket with a one-handed floater along the baseline.

But it was the Kriisa and Battle show all along.

Advertisement

Kriisa gave WVU its first lead of the second half, 77-74, with a 3-pointer with 2:13 left. He canned two free throws for a 79-75 lead a minute later.

Then disaster struck. First, it was Kansas State center Will McNair grabbing an airball and scoring it to cut WVU’s lead 79-77 with 51 seconds left.

WVU center Jesse Edwards struggled the entire game, and when he went to the foul line with 24 seconds left, he missed both, and K-State tied the game moments later when Tyler Perry made two free throws that sent the game into overtime.

Edwards made just 1 of 9 shots from the field and he was 3 of 9 from the foul line before fouling out of the game in overtime.

“He’s very capable, but we’ve just got to get that balance,” Eilert said of Edwards. “We’ve got to get his head up on the rim and sometimes he’s rushing things and not even shooting it on the turn. He’s got to get his balance and composure down there.”

Advertisement

Overall, the Mountaineers didn’t help their chances at getting a rare road win by going 17 of 26 from the foul line.

WVU’s last shot in regulation saw Kriisa run off nearly 14 seconds of the clock, before hoisting up a jump shot that came up short. Edwards grabbed the rebound and appeared to get bumped, but the referees ruled regulation had come to an end.

WVU’s only lead in overtime was brief, an 80-79 advantage coming from a free throw from Edwards.

From there, Perry hit a big 3-pointer — he finished with six threes and 29 points — and McNair got behind both Battle and Pat Suemnick on another play for a lay-up that gave K-State an 85-80 lead.

WVU did get as close as 90-91 with 12.3 seconds left after Kriisa made two free throws, but then Perry made two himself.

Advertisement

Battle took a long inbounds pass with 8.8 seconds left and got a good look at 3-pointer that could have tied it, but it was the only big shot he missed all night.

Cam Carter went 1 of 2 from the line with 4.1 seconds left for the final score, as the Mountaineers fell to 0-12 in games played away from the Coliseum this season.





Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Kansas

Kansas City man sentenced for cocaine trafficking, possession of illegal firearm

Published

on

Kansas City man sentenced for cocaine trafficking, possession of illegal firearm


KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – A Kansas City man was sentenced in federal court for his role in a drug trafficking conspiracy and possession of an illegal firearm.

According to the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri, 22-year-old Antoine R. Gillum was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison without parole.

His sentencing stems from a June 2024 incident in a metro gas station. KCPD investigators contacted Gillum inside and found that he had discarded a 9 mm pistol in an aisle between the merchandise. He also discarded a pill bottle containing multiple illegal substances: cocaine base, oxycodone/acetaminophen and oxycodone.

Officers searched the vehicle Gillum had arrived in and found approximately 32 grams of cocaine base.

Advertisement

On May 6, 2025, Gillum pleaded guilty to one count each of possession with intent to distribute cocaine and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica Jennings. It’s a part of ‘Operation Take Back America,’ a nationwide Department of Justice initiative to eliminate cartels and transnational criminal organizations.

No further information has been released.



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Kansas

Deadly 4-car crash kills 2 people, injures others in Kansas City

Published

on

Deadly 4-car crash kills 2 people, injures others in Kansas City


KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – A crash near a busy highway killed two people and injured two others.

Emergency crews responded to the crash at U.S. 71 Highway and Meyer Boulevard around 12:40 p.m. on Monday, March 2.

When crews arrived they determined four cars were involved in the crash.

Police are investigating how the crash happened.

Advertisement



Source link

Continue Reading

Kansas

Homegrown Jayhawk stars ready to shine at Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City

Published

on

Homegrown Jayhawk stars ready to shine at Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City


LAWRENCE, Kan. (KCTV) – As Kansas women’s basketball prepares to enter the postseason at the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City, they’ll be led by two Overland Park natives who have been two of the most electrifying players to watch in the country this year.

Junior guard S’Mya Nichols and freshman forward Jaliya Davis have played integral roles in the recent growth of the program. Both cite the desire to help grow the Jayhawks into something special as reasons for committing there.

“Where we wanted to take Kansas women’s basketball, I wanted to be a part of that growing evolution,” Nichols told KCTV5.

“We [my family] were also really big Jayhawk fans. We came to a lot of games,” Davis said about her childhood.

Advertisement

The two were both 5-star recruits in high school, and their commitments marked historic recruiting victories for the KU women’s basketball program.

First came Nichols in the Class of 2023, picking KU over Tennessee and Oklahoma.

“I genuinely wanted to go to Kansas,” she said.

Then Davis became the highest-rated player to ever commit to KU as part of the Class of 2025.

“When you go back to S’Mya Nichols being a local, Kansas City, Overland Park product, a nationally respected player, Jaliya was really the next one that was very important for the Jayhawks to keep home,” said head coach Brandon Schneider.

Advertisement

Now as a junior, Nichols has established herself as one of the most consistent scorers and physical guards in the nation.

But it’s the Shawnee Mission West’s alum’s leadership that defines her legacy in Lawrence.

“The team leader, the quarterback,” Coach Schneider described Nichols. “I think oftentimes the player that everybody looks up to off the court.”

“I mean it means everything. Knowing that I’m important to the team, and that they see me as that as well,” said Nichols with a smile.

Both Nichols and Davis were recruited by the Jayhawks for years, going all the way back to seventh grade.

Advertisement

“Well, we offered her in middle school,’ Coach Schneider said with a laugh about Davis.

“Oh he put in a lot of work,” laughed Davis. “I mean, obviously, seventh grade, that’s a long time.”

It was that dedication from Coach Schneider that led her to choose the Jayhawks over Texas, South Carolina, Baylor, and Oklahoma – where he dad played ball.

“I think it really was the relationship we had and grew. He was always there, every single one of my games,” Davis said about Schneider.

After just one practice as teammates, Nichols voiced a big belief about Davis into existence – and it’s probably going to come true.

Advertisement
The Jayhawks are the 11-seed in the Big 12 Tournament, and will face 14-seed UCF in the first round on Wednesday at 8:00 p.m.(KCTV5)

“I saw her first practice, and I sent her a text, and I’m like ‘I think you can win Freshman of the Year’, and I still stand by that,”

Davis is averaging 21.0 points per game, and has been named the Big 12 Freshman of the Week for eight weeks in a row. That sets a power conference all-time record.

“I think it’s really cool. I mean obviously it’s a team effort, they’re always looking for me,” Davis said about her historic accomplishment.

“Just a phenomenal stretch of basketball for her, and so well deserving,” said Coach Schneider.

Now these two homegrown stars are at the forefront of a late-season push to earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament. Right now, CBS Sports bracketology has them as a ‘First Four Out’ team.

Advertisement

But a few wins in the Big 12 Tournament could certainly help seal their invite to the big dance.

“Obviously we’re not in the position that we were hoping to be in, but I think we can make the most out of it, and get to where we want to be,” Davis said about the opportunity at hand in the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City.

The Overland Park kids are especially fired up about starting the postseason in their own backyard.

“I have a big support system. So I bet my family will take a big chunk of that area during that tournament,” Davis laughed.

“I remember being younger, and the College Basketball Experience is right next door. So I felt like at one moment that was the big stage, when I got to play my little AAU tournaments in there. And then all of a sudden I’m literally in T-Mobile Center on the actual big stage, so it’s pretty cool,” said Nichols.

Advertisement

The Jayhawks are the 11-seed in the Big 12 Tournament, and will face 14-seed UCF in the first round on Wednesday at 8:00 p.m.



Source link

Continue Reading

Trending