Kansas basketball vs. West Virginia recap: Jayhawks win to advance in Big 12 tournament

KANSAS CITY — Kansas men’s basketball is playing its Big 12 Conference quarterfinals matchup Thursday against West Virginia.

The No. 1-seed Jayhawks (25-6) came in after a loss in the regular season finale against Texas. The No. 8-seed Mountaineers (19-13) came in after a win against No. 9-seed Texas Tech in the opening round of the Big 12 tournament. Kansas swept West Virginia in the regular season meeting between the two sides.

Will the Jayhawks be able to advance and stay on track to defend their Big 12 tournament title last year? Will the Mountaineers be able to avenge a loss in last year’s Big 12 tournament against Kansas? The Jayhawks are operating with assistant coach Norm Roberts as the interim head coach, with Bill Self unavailable due to what Kansas referred to as an illness.

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Follow along for updates from the T-Mobile Center:

FINAL: Kansas 78, West Virginia 61

Kansas leads 69-55 against West Virginia with 2:53 left in 2nd half

Kansas is in position to coast to the finish in this one. The Jayhawks are up by 14 points with less than three minutes left in regulation. West Virginia appears to be too far off to pull together any kind of a legitimate comeback attempt.

Second-chance points have been a massive differentiator in this one. Kansas has 16, while West Virginia has two. That's the difference on the scoreboard.

Kansas leads 60-48 against West Virginia with 7:15 left in 2nd half

The shots have really been falling in the second half. Kansas is about to eclipse what it scored in the first half, as it's shooting better than 60% from the field. West Virginia already has, as it's shooting almost 50% from the field.

Four Jayhawks are in double figures. Jalen Wilson has 20 points to lead them all. Dajuan Harris Jr. has 13, while Gradey Dick and KJ Adams Jr. both have 11.

Kansas leads 46-40 against West Virginia with 11:53 left in 2nd half

Jalen Wilson has made his last six shots from the field, and that's helped him to a game-high 17 points so far. He's now 7-for-13 from the field, with a 3-for-3 mark on free throws. Only thing he hasn't done is hit a 3-pointer.

Erik Stevenson hasn't done a whole lot for West Virginia so far today, but he'll be someone to watch as the game comes to a close. He has the potential to get hot on 3s. And a couple possessions can turn the tide in a game as close as this.

Kansas leads 38-32 against West Virginia with 15:14 left in 2nd half

West Virginia is hanging with Kansas in the second half. The Mountaineers are only trailing by six points with a bit more than 15 points in the second half. The Jayhawks have been shooting the ball better from the field since the second half began, but have three turnovers to their competitors' none.

Kevin McCullar Jr. has been valuable at times for Kansas, especially defensively, as he's chosen to fight through the pain to play. But offensively, the Jayhawks could use some more from him. He's yet to score or hit a shot, and he has just one assist.

The second half has started

Kevin McCullar Jr. is starting the second half for Kansas after coming off the bench in the first half.

HALFTIME: Kansas 31, West Virginia 23

Kansas leads 29-18 against West Virginia with 2:12 left in 1st half

Kansas had a 14-0 run that ended recently during this most recent stretch of play. West Virginia isn't completely out of it, but they're getting pretty close. At this rate, the Jayhawks probably won't have to use Kevin McCullar Jr. much in the second half.

Jalen Wilson has shot the ball better recently, and leads all scorers with 10 points. He's also up to seven rebounds already. So, we're probably watching the early stages of another double-double for him.

Kansas leads 20-14 against West Virginia with 7:26 left in 1st half

The Jayhawks have wrestled the momentum back from the Mountaineers, evidenced best by KJ Adams Jr.'s recent dunk that had Kansas' bench thrilled and the crowd roaring. Ernest Udeh Jr. was dancing alongside his Jayhawks teammates on the bench. And Kansas is up 20-14 with a little less than seven and a half minutes left in the first half.

Jalen Wilson has really struggled to hit shots from the field so far for the Jayhawks. He's 1-for-7, including 0-for-2 from behind the arc, with a couple made free throws. But his teammates have been picking up the slack.

West Virginia leads 10-9 against Kansas with 11:34 left in 1st half

Kansas hasn't scored in more than four minutes, and while it's not like West Virginia has been lighting up the scoreboard the Mountaineers are leading now. They've gone on a 6-0 run against the Jayhawks. It's a 10-9 lead for West Virginia with about 11 and a half minutes until halftime.

Jalen Wilson is going to the free-throw line after this break, so maybe that'll end the drought. But whether or not it does, Kansas needs to settle down. It's out of sorts for the most part on the offensive end, and Gradey Dick has yet to even attempt a shot from the field.

Kansas leads 9-4 against West Virginia with 15:18 left in 1st half

The Jayhawks and Mountaineers have gotten off to a sort of sloppy start, but Kansas holds the early lead at 9-4 with a bit more than 15 minutes left until halftime. The teams have combined for six turnovers and six made shots from the field so far. And they each only have two points off of turnovers.

A good sign for Kansas is Kevin McCullar Jr. is about to check into the game. His playing status was in question, due to injury. But he is playing today, which gives the Jayhawks all five of their starters available — Joseph Yesufu started in place of McCullar today.

The game has started

Kansas won the opening tip-off.

Jalen Wilson recognized as Big 12's player of the year

No surprises so far in who's available for Kansas

Here's an estimate on when the game will tip off

Here's more on why Bill Self won't be there

Here's a look at who could start

Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He is the National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas for 2022. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: KU vs WVU basketball score, recap at Big 12 Tournament