MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Khamari McGriff scored 18 points, Nate Johnson added 16 and Kansas State beat the Mountaineers 65-63 on Tuesday night, dealing another blow to West Virginia’s NCAA tournament hopes.
West Virginia’s backup Chance Moore scored 18 points, Brenen Lorient scored 14 points, backup DJ Thomas scored 12 points, and Honor Huff scored 11 points.
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It was the Wildcats’ first win of the season in which they didn’t score more than 81 points.
P.J. Haggerty, the nation’s third-leading scorer, was unexpectedly removed from the Wildcats’ lineup an hour and a half before tipoff at 7 p.m. CT. Hagerty was not included in the team’s preliminary availability report released Monday.
Kansas State said in a news release that Hagerty was injured in practice in recent days. He will be on the roster every day leading up to Saturday’s game at Kansas. Haggerty, the Wildcats’ starting point guard, was second in the Big 12 scoring list Tuesday night, averaging 23.3 points per game.
Despite his absence, Kansas State (12-18, 3-14) went on a 21-0 run to lead 48-31 with 10:53 left, its longest scoring streak of the season.
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But the Wildcats failed to score a field goal in the final 3 minutes and 48 seconds. With 7 minutes and 29 seconds left in the game, McGriff made two free throws to lead 57-39.
West Virginia (17-13, 8-9) then outscored the Wildcats 19-1 and tied it 61-58 with 48 seconds left, as McGriff and Johnson each made free throws to secure the victory.
Next
West Virginia: Regular season ends Friday against UCF.
Kansas State: Ends the regular season on the road Saturday against No. 14 in-state rival Kansas State.
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