West Virginia upsets No. 7 Kansas late in thriller
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Jermaine Haley hurried up the court and hit a layup with 8.5 seconds left, completing a late rally that lifted West Virginia over No. 7 Kansas 65-64 on Saturday.
West Virginia (9-9, 1-5 Big 12) scored the final seven points to break a five-game losing streak.
Dedric Lawson and Marcus Garrett made layups 29 seconds apart to give the Jayhawks (15-3, 4-2) their largest lead at 64-58 with 2:34 left. But Kansas didn't score again.
Wes Harris responded with a 3-pointer for West Virginia and Derek Culver's layup cut the deficit to 64-63 with 1:26 remaining. Culver then grabbed a rebound, but threw the ball straight to Garrett with 54 seconds left.
West Virginia got another chance after Lagerald Vick's airball. Haley rushed, drove past Quentin Grimes and made the go-ahead layup.
Vick missed a 3-point try from the corner as time ran out, and West Virginia fans stormed the court after the Mountaineers' fifth win over the Jayhawks in their last six meetings in Morgantown.
Haley, who was playing with a bandage on his injured left wrist, led the Mountaineers with 13 points. James ''Beetle'' Bolden added 12 points despite playing with an illness and Culver scored 12.
Lawson and Garrett had 15 points apiece for Kansas, which had won three in a row. Vick scored 13.
BIG PICTURE
Kansas: The Jayhawks committed 18 turnovers, including 13 in the first half, and missed several chances to put West Virginia away down the stretch. The Jayhawks got just four points from their bench.
West Virginia: It marked a good start to West Virginia's toughest stretch of the season with four ranked opponents over six games. The Mountaineers also play at No. 3 Tennessee in the SEC/Big 12 challenge on Jan. 26, host No. 20 Oklahoma on Feb. 2 and play at No. 8 Texas Tech on Feb. 4.
UP NEXT
Kansas hosts Iowa State on Monday night before traveling to Kentucky next Saturday for the SEC/Big 12 Challenge.
West Virginia hosts Baylor on Monday night.