Moments That Popped: West Virginia 86, No. 22 Kansas 75

There certainly were good stretches, but not enough of them.

And there were guys who had good stat lines, but not good enough.

At the end of the day, the 22nd-ranked Kansas Jayhawks started hot, led at the break and then watched it all disappear in a second-half collapse at a place that has hosted plenty of days just like this in the Jayhawks' recent past.

After leading 43-39 at halftime, KU was outscored 47-32 in the second half and fell to West Virginia, 86-75, to drop their second Big 12 game of the season so far.

KU freshman Darryn Peterson started and topped 30 minutes for the second consecutive game. But his 23 points were not enough to help Kansas come home with an important win.

The Jayhawks had problems up and down the lineup on Saturday. Particularly in the second half. But the absence of anything much to speak of from starting big men Flory Bidunga and Bryson Tiller proved to be catastrophic. Those two Jayhawks combined for 12 points and 11 rebounds in 63 minutes of action, while battling foul trouble for much of the game.

Final stats of 12 and 11 are pretty solid for one KU big man, but they've got to get much more than that from the combination of the two. Bidunga did finish with 4 blocks and both players swiped a steal.

KU shot just 31% from the floor in the 2nd half (9-for-29) and never really recovered from a brutal stretch that featured 9 consecutive misses midway through the second half.

The loss dropped Kansas to 11-5 overall and 1-2 in Big 12 play. If not for that insane comeback against TCU earlier this week, the Jayhawks would be staring at an 0-3 start in conference play.

Next up, the Jayhawks are likely to drop out of the AP Top 25 before hosting No. 3 Iowa State at 8 p.m. next Tuesday night at Allen Fieldhouse.

Here's a look back at some of Saturday's action from Morgantown.

LIKES

• Peterson gaining on it? - It was another strong first half for the KU freshman, who finished with 16 points on 5-of-11 shooting, with two 3-point makes, a 4-for-4 clip at the free throw line, 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 0 turnovers. More importantly, he logged 18 minutes and looked pretty comfortable doing it. He started 1-of-6 shooting but then hit 4 of his next 5 to close the first half and quickly pushed his point total past 20 in the first few minutes of the second half. Peterson played 13 minutes in the 2nd half, giving him 31 for the day. And it looked like he was going to sit for the final 5 or so again. But he checked back in with 2:21 to play and KU trailing by 10 and hit a triple 20 seconds later. KU didn't complete the comeback but just seeing him out there in the final couple of minutes was a notable development for the rest of the season. DP finished the day with 23 points on 6-of-17 shooting, with 3 triples and an 8-for-8 showing at the charity stripe.

• Tre White got red hot - White was KU's most important offensive player for most of the non-conference slate, and there were games where he flat-out carried KU, inside, outside and at the free throw line. Few players have struggled to adjust their scoring/role to fit around Darryn Peterson since his return like White, but he found his game again in this one. Particularly from 3-point range, where he hit three 3-pointers in a red-hot stretch to help KU build a lead. White finished with 18 points in 38 minutes and showed that he can find a way to fit in as a scorer even with Peterson on the floor.

• Hat-tip to Jayden Dawson - He hasn't played a ton. He's been inconsistent in both his role and production, along with his health, but there he was out there in crunch time on Saturday and he had a couple of bright moments. He hit a 3 to help KU end its dreadful scoring drought that put them in a big-time hole. And he played tough, aggressive defense all over the floor. He wasn't perfect by any means. It would be hard to expect him to be. But he was productive in spots and, more importantly, he was ready when his number was called, playing instead of Jamari McDowell and in place of DP for key stretches late in the 2nd half. McDowell, by the way, played just 9 minutes all day.

DISLIKES

• 2nd-half silence - The Jayhawks opened the second half with good energy — unlike what we saw against TCU a few nights ago — and built a couple of significant leads early in the 2nd half. None was bigger than the 59-51 lead at the 14:55 mark, which gave the road team total control of the game. But the Jayhawks couldn't keep it. WVU kept coming. And, in just 6+ minutes, the Mountaineers' ripped off a 16-0 run to take a 67-59 lead with less than 9 minutes to play. The run featured nine straight KU misses and several WVU points in the paint. KU was held scoreless for 7:05, from 14:55 to 7:50. The run ballooned to 22-2 before KU could recover and Kansas found itself staring at a 73-61 deficit heading into the final 5:30 of action. Can't do that most games. Can't do that on the road. Really can't do that at WVU Coliseum.

• Tiller's recent funk continues - Not boxing out, travels, foul trouble — a couple of silly fouls at that — and more. Bryson Tiller has not had his best stuff in the past couple of weeks and it continued in this one, even with the few good moments he did have along with it. It may still be premature, but I'd keep an eye out for a change of scenery for Tiller. It would not surprise me in the least if Self elected to start smaller in the games ahead, likely with Jamari Traylor or Elmarko Jackson taking Tiller's spot in the starting lineup. That won't help much with the next woe, but when you consider that KU is thiiiis close to being 0-3 in Big 12 play already, you have to wonder if Self will look to shake up something.

• Defensive rebounding woes resurface - The final box score shows West Virginia out-rebounding KU 38-32, including an 11-10 edge on the offensive glass. While rebounding has been a problem for this Kansas team, that final margin doesn't sound all that bad. Unless, that is, you realize that, at one point, KU led the rebounding war 27-25. That means the Mountaineers were the tougher team on the glass down the stretch, out-rebounding KU 13-5 to close the game. There were a couple of key moments in the game's final 5 or 6 minutes, when WVU out-competed KU to an offensive rebound that allowed the Mountaineers to maintain or add to their lead.

WHAT THE?

• Self gets T'd up - It was weird timing and probably an afternoon's worth of frustration coming out in the end. Still, with just 30.8 seconds to play, KU coach Bill Self was hit with a technical foul during a break in the action. In fairness, it looked a couple of times earlier, like he was close to getting the whistle, so maybe it was just destined to happen. It mattered none in the outcome of the game but did allow the Mountaineers to put up a couple more easy points during their 47-point 2nd half.

— For tickets to all KU athletic events, visit kuathletics.com