Ben McLemore exploded with 36 points for the No. 6 Kansas Jayhawks, who easily dealt with West Virginia at home, running away with a 91-65 win.
No. 6 Kansas vs. West Virginia final score: Ben McLemore heats up, Jayhawks roll 91-65
Ben McLemore had a career-high 36 points thanks to 5-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc, as a game that was close early turned into a blowout.
Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports
McLemore continues to make the argument he should be freshman of the year, as this was his third 30-point game of the year. The 6'5 swingman with the silky jumper got hot from deep, and there was no stopping him: McLemore drilled 5-of-6 threes as part of an unreal shooting performance by the Jayhawks -- Elijah Johnson also went 3-for-4 and Naadir Tharpe hit both of his attempts from beyond the arc. Despite the rest of the team going 0-for-5 from deep, Kansas still shot 10-for-17.
And McLemore might not have had the best game of the night: Jeff Withey notched his third triple-double of the season, dominating a small Mountaineers lineup with 14 points, 10 blocks, and 10 rebounds -- not to mention that he scored those 14 points on 7-of-8 shooting. And Johnson had a double-double as well with 11 points and 10 assists.
It wasn’t wire-to-wire domination: the Mountaineers actually jumped out to an early lead, going up 16-9. But the Jayhawks took the lead with a 12-4 run, then finished the first half by scoring 19 points in the final five minutes of game time, finishing with a Tharpe three at the buzzer. The lead ballooned to as much as 29 in the closing minutes.
The Jayhawks have really rebounded well from a three-game losing skid that included a loss to TCU. They’ve now won six in a row heading into their final two regular season games of the year. Meanwhile, West Virginia will be disappointed after at least making Kansas work for a 61-56 win in their first meeting. At 13-16, the Mountaineers would have to win several Big 12 Tournament games to avoid Bob Huggins’ first losing season as a coach since 1985, when he was with Akron.
More from SB Nation:
See More:
