West Virginia Mountaineers at Kansas Jayhawks

Kansas rallies from 18 down to beat West Virginia in OT, win Big 12

The ninth-ranked Jayhawks were down 18 points to No. 20 West Virginia, a team that had beaten them on the road two weeks earlier. The Jayhawks would be outrebounded 46-34. Two of their best players were out of the game. From behind the 3-point arc, they would go 0-for-15.

Somehow, they won.

Frank Mason III scored the final six points of overtime, and the Jayhawks clinched their 11th straight Big 12 regular-season championship with a 76-69 victory Tuesday night. They missed matching the biggest comeback in the 60-year history of Allen Fieldhouse by just one point.

"We haven't had a better win here for higher stakes than what that was," an exhausted Self said postgame. "As a coach, when you have good players and you play well, you should win. But it always means a little more when you can't get anything going and somehow the kids figure out a way to do it. It was pretty special for me to sit there and watch those guys pull it off."

Mason had 19 points for the Jayhawks, whose 11 straight conference titles trail only the 13 in a row UCLA won in the John Wooden era.

Junior forward Perry Ellis, the Jayhawks' leading scorer, injured his knee late in the first half and did not return. Self said after the game that Perry suffered a sprained right knee and would miss Saturday's game at Oklahoma.

"We played tough, we played hard, but playing without Perry [Ellis] obviously is not good," Self said. "He had the flu and got off to a bad start anyway, then he gets hurt. We don't know the extent of it, but the good news is we think he can be back in a week or so."

Forward Cliff Alexander, who is awaiting an NCAA ruling on an eligibility issue, was also out.

"Our main goal as a team was to get stops, keep fighting and keep believing," said Mason, the starting point guard.

Daxter Miles had 23 points for West Virginia (22-8, 10-7), which was without star guard Juwan Staten, who had scored at least 20 points in each of the past three games against Kansas. Also out with an injury was guard Gary Browne.

"We deserved to win the game. We really did," a visibly upset West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said. "We just didn't do enough at the end."

Kansas, which clinched at least a share of the title with Iowa State's victory over Oklahoma on Monday, finally tied it 59-all on two free throws by Devonte Graham with 11.5 seconds left in regulation. Miles' 3-pointer gave West Virginia a quick 63-61 overtime lead before Jamari Traylor's three-point play made it 64-63.

Mason went 4-for-4 from the free throw line in the waning seconds, with the final shot going in with 4.1 seconds to play.

The Jayhawks completed a 16-0 home season.

"Guys were stepping up, and we fought back," said Traylor, who had 14 points. "We don't get scared. We always know it's a possibility that we can come back."

The Mountaineers stunned the favored Jayhawks and their 230th consecutive sellout crowd with an 18-4 run to a 22-10 lead in the first half. Kelly Oubre's basket had Kansas ahead 6-4 with 16:59 left in the half. Stymied by West Virginia's swarming defense and overwhelmed on the offensive and defensive boards, the Jayhawks did not make another field goal until Hunter Mickelson, a little-used reserve, got a layup at the 8:31 mark.

The Mountaineers' lead reached 38-22 when Tarik Phillip's two free throws and basket capped an 8-0 spurt near the end of the half. The Jayhawks, who were 0-for-7 from behind the arc and outrebounded 26-11, were within 40-26 at halftime after hitting 12-of-14 free throws.

TIP-INS

Kansas: As soon as the game ended, Kansas closed down the Booth Family Hall of Athletics. The hall, attached to the east side of Allen Fieldhouse, will be closed for six months to make room for construction of the DeBruce Center, which is being built to house James Naismith's original rules for basketball, which a Kansas fan bought on auction for $4.3 million and donated to the university.

West Virginia: In their take-charge first half, the Mountaineers had more offensive rebounds (14) than defensive (12).

STAT LINES:

Kansas' 11 straight conference titles tie the streak Gonzaga put together from 2001-11. ... West Virginia managed only 19 points in the second half.

QUOTABLE:

UP NEXT

Kansas: at Oklahoma on Saturday.

West Virginia: hosts Oklahoma State on Saturday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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