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Apologies to Staten, but it was Irvin’s night

And you thought West Virginia needed that one?

The Mountaineers backed way far away from the NCAA Tournament bubble Monday night. The season was validated with a signature 62-61 win over Kansas when Juwan Staten spun (a little too much, it turns out, but no one called it) and scored and then made the Perry Ellis layup on the other end harder than it had to be.

“The play he makes is an unbelievable play when he scores,” Huggins said. “But he’s the guy who runs in front of Ellis to change his steps or his rhythm. He made him kind of short-step it a little bit, and that’s why he ended up missing the shot.”

The miss left the Jayhawks (21-5, 10-3 Big 12) with 24 made baskets on 49 shots, and it stood as the only reason they didn’t shoot 50 percent. The previous four opponents all shot better than 50 percent against WVU (20-6, 8-5).

Pretty much everyone who played a moment or a lot did something to significantly impact the game, and Staten (20 points, four assists and no turnovers) won the game and the headlines after Jevon Carter once again shot WVU back into a game late.

But no one had a better night than Bruce Irvin, who partied with the students in the 10-2 run to start the game and then moved to his seat behind the WVU bench.

That’s the same bench he’s hurdling here.