MORGANTOWN, W.Va. _ Kansas' 18-game winning streak is history.
The Jayhawks, who rattled off 18 straight victories after a season-opening loss to Indiana on Nov. 11, finally suffered loss No. 2 of the season on Tuesday night _ an 85-69 decision to West Virginia in WVU Coliseum.
It was a familiar setting for a KU loss, even though it was the team's first setback in two months. The No. 2-ranked Jayhawks (18-2, 7-1 Big 12) dropped their fourth consecutive game in Morgantown, spanning four seasons.
Esa Ahmad exploded for a career-high 27 points for West Virginia. Nathan Adrian had 11 and Tarik Phillip 10.
KU senior guard/Virginia native Frank Mason, who was booed every time he touched the ball, had his first off night in a while. Mason, the Big 12's leading scorer, totaled five points the first half and finished with 15 on 6-of-16 shooting. He missed 7 of 9 shots the first half. He finished 3 of 7 from 3.
Josh Jackson had 22 points and Devonte Graham 17 for KU. West Virginia hit 7 of 19 3s; KU 12 of 28. KU hit 42.4 percent overall to West Virginia's 48.3.
The Jayhawks led by as many as six points the first half (28-22 at 5:30), yet trailed by three at halftime (38-35). The Jayhawks were down by 10 points the second half (55-45 at 13:41) yet rallied to take the lead 59-58 on a Svi Mykhailiuk 3 at 9:48.
However, West Virginia (16-4, 5-3) immediately built the lead back to five points (64-59) scoring some off a KU zone the Jayhawks went to the final half because of foul problems. KU trailed just 64-61 with 7:11 left on a Jackson slam, but WVU went on a 6-0 run to go up, 70-61, at 4:55.
The Mountaineers built the lead to 74-63 at the final TV time out, with 3:14 left.
The Jayhawks committed just five turnovers the first half against West Virginia's famous fullcourt press. Yet the Jayhawks still trailed, 38-35, at halftime.
KU had 13 turnovers for the game.
Graham had 13 points off 5-of-7 shooting in the half while Jackson had nine points the initial half.
West Virginia received 12 points the initial half from forward Ahmad and six from a group of four players (Adrian, Jevon Carter, Phillip and Sagaba Konate, a freshman from Mali.
The Jayhawks hit seven 3s the first half but still trailed at the break.
KU led, 11-8, at 14:59 thanks to five points from Graham, three from Jackson and three from Mykhailiuk. Ahmad had all eight points for the Mountaineers.
Mason scored his first points of the game on a 3-pointer that opened a 9-0 run that turned a 17-13 deficit into a 22-17 lead at 8:26. KU stretched the run to 15-5 on 3s from Lagerald Vick and Jackson and led, 28-22.
West Virginia used an 8-0 run to turn a 31-26 deficit (3:59) into a 34-31 lead. Carter and Adrian had 3s and Phillip a two in the surge.
KU's Landen Lucas picked up his second foul at 8:46 and sat the rest of the half. He played seven minutes the first half and had five boards. He finished with 2 points and 10 boards.
West Virginia scored the first six points of the second half to open a 44-35 lead at 19:11, forcing Bill Self to call time out. Ahmad had four in that run.
KU did cut the gap to 46-42, but West Virginia quickly recovered and built the lead to 10 (55-45) at 13:41.
