MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The noise at WVU Coliseum was deafening from Tuesday night’s opening tip, with a sellout crowd that included Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger straining to help lift the No. 14 Mountaineers past No. 3 Kansas.
West Virginia was well on its way to pleasing that audience before going dead silent for the game’s final five minutes, unraveling in a cavalcade of turnovers and missed shots that allowed the Jayhawks to leave the state with a 58-49 win to maintain an inside track on one of the NCAA tournament’s coveted No. 1 seeds.
For West Virginia, it was the first home loss of the season.