West Virginia entered Saturday’s matchup with Kansas State at Bramlage Coliseum looking to avoid consecutive losses — something the Mountaineers had successfully done following each of their first four setbacks this season.

Instead, WVU was blitzed from the jump by the Wildcats as Kansas State ran off 17 straight points early into the matchup and hardly looked back in claiming a 73-60 victory for its first win of 2025.

“You go on the road, you can’t come out of the gates the way we did,” first-year WVU head coach Darian DeVries said. “You have to have a full 40 and we didn’t have that tonight.”

West Virginia (13-6, 4-4) missed 10 of its first 11 shots, while K-State (8-11, 2-6) made 7-of-11 shots to start, allowing the home team to create separation it kept intact for the remainder of the matchup.

After Eduardo Andre scored from close range for West Virginia’s first points, the Mountaineers were scoreless for more than 6 minutes and without a field goal for almost 8.

WVU missed nine straight shots and turned it over once during the early stretch when the Wildcats took control. KSU guard Dug McDaniel aided his squad by scoring seven points during the prolonged run, including a three-pointer that made it 19-2 at the 12:18 mark of the opening half.

While West Virginia settled in some offensively, the Mountaineers never got the deficit inside 13 over the remainder of the half, with that coming at 21-8 on a Javon Small layup.

Leading 31-16 as the 5-minute mark of the opening half approached, the Wildcats then ran off 11 unanswered points to hold their largest lead of the night. 

That stretch began with two free throws from McDaniel, and the guard added a layup 27 seconds after teammate C.J. Jones had scored on a fast break. Ugonna Onyenso accounted for the next five points, including a conventional three-point play 1:15 before halftime.

Andre’s dunk late in the half made it a 24-point margin at the break.

“The first 5 minutes, it just kind of snowballed from there. The second half was more like us,” DeVries said. “We competed and didn’t quit, but you can’t put yourself in that type of hole, on the road especially. That was a tough one to try to claw back out of.”

The Wildcats shot 16 for 30, including 5 of 9 on threes over the first 20 minutes. They had six players with multiple field goals at halftime, while the Mountaineers went to the intermission shooting 7 for 29, including 4 for 21 outside of Small.

West Virginia made several runs in the second half, including an early one that allowed the Mountaineers to trail 44-29 following Amani Hansberry’s triple.

Small’s dunk in transition left the Mountaineers facing a 54-40 deficit with 11:05 to play, but the Wildcats countered with eight of the next 10 points to ensure there wouldn’t bet be a tight finish. Five of those eight points were provided by David N’Guessan, who accounted for a conventional three-point play and threw down a dunk with 5:42 left for a 20-point margin.

The Mountaineers got as close as 12 on three separate instances, but never until less than 2 minutes remained.

KSU made 26-of-55 shots to shoot better than 47 percent, had a 15-5 edge in bench scoring and a 17-8 advantage in fast break points.

McDaniel led five Wildcats in double figures with 15 points and added six assists and a pair of steals.

“He’s a good player. He’s always stuffing the stat sheet,” DeVries said. “He did some things there again. He’s a tough guard. He has the ability to face up, drive you and rebound. I was watching on film and he does a lot of things that equate to winning. He certainly did that tonight.”

N’Guessan scored 14 and Max Jones added 12, with that duo combining to make 10-of-15 shots. Coleman Hawkins contributed 11 points and a team-high seven rebounds and C.J. Jones totaled 10 points.

Small led the Mountaineers with 22 points and five assists.

Toby Okani scored 13 in defeat before fouling out and Sencire Harris added 12 points, all of which he scored after halftime.

WVU made 25-of-68 shots and 4-of-21 threes. In two losses this week, the Mountaineers shot 43 for 126, including 8 for 50 from long range.

Kansas State snapped a six-game skid and improved to 9-4 against the Mountaineers at Bramlage Coliseum.

West Virginia looks to get back in the win column on Saturday night as they meet up with the Kansas State Wildcats.

While K-State has dropped six straight, Darian DeVries is not taking this matchup lightly.

“When you look at them, especially in Big 12 play outside of the Houston game, their games have come right down to the wire – they’ve been right there,” DeVries said. “Led at Kansas, had Texas Tech at home, had Baylor down double digits on the road, beat Cincinnati at home. So, they’re right there; they just haven’t had the wins to show for it, but I think they’re a really talented team, and they present a lot of problems for you.”

A few moments ago, both teams revealed their starting lineups for tonight’s game.

G Javon Small

G Sencire Harris

F Jonathan Powell

F Toby Okani

C Eduardo Andre

G Brendan Hausen

G Dug McDaniel

G Max Jones

F David N’Guessan

C Coleman Hawkins

The Mountaineers and Wildcats are set to get things tipped off at 6 p.m. EST. You can view the action on CBS Sports Network.

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Some outlets have West Virginia as a team that’s not necessarily on the bubble but close to it. Not CBS Sports. Jerry Palm is a big believer in what Darian DeVries and the Mountaineers have done this season despite their most recent loss to Arizona State.

In his latest NCAA Tournament projection, Palm has the Mountaineers as a No. 6 seed in the West Region.

Palm’s full West Region projection

1. Iowa State vs. 16. Southern

8. Oklahoma vs. 9. Gonzaga

5. Houston vs. 12. VCU

4. Ole Miss vs. 13. Northern Colorado

6. West Virginia vs. 11. Wake Forest

3. Texas A&M vs. 14. Utah Valley

7. Utah State vs. 10. Maryland

2. Marquette vs. 15. Bryant

Up Next

West Virginia will play three of its next four games away from the WVU Coliseum, beginning this evening at Kansas State. They will return home for a chance at revenge against No. 7 Houston on Wednesday which will be followed up by road trips to Cincinnati and TCU.

The Mountaineers and Wildcats will throw the ball up in the air at approximately 6 p.m. EST tonight. You can watch the action live on CBS Sports Network.

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