Trending
MORGANTOWN -- Babe Ruth was known as the Sultan of Swat for the massive home runs he would hit during his playing days for the New York Yankees.
Sophomore Sagaba Konate is quickly earning that same moniker for his massive blocked shots on the basketball court for No. 6 West Virginia.
The Bamako, Mali, native was at his best Monday night at the Coliseum as the Mountaineers (15-3 overall, 4-2 Big 12) played host to No. 10 Kansas (15-3, 5-1 Big 12)
Looking to bounce back from a subpar performance in the Mountaineers' 72-71 loss at No. 6 Texas Tech, the sophomore swatted five shots and changed the trajectory of several more while scoring eight points and hauling down six rebounds -- all in the first half.
WVU's 6-foot-8, 260-pounder entered the night trailing only Texas big man Bamba Mohamed (71) in blocked shots with 47. But, he quickly made himself a force to be reckoned with when he greeted Kansas senior Devonte' Graham, the Big 12's Preseason Player of the Year, with a two-handed stuff which brought the sellout crowd to its feet.
"He (Konate) is a load in there," Kansas coach Bill Self said. "He's improved so much from last year. We were able to get a couple of fouls on him there in the second half and I told the kids in the locker room that if we were going to go down, that we were going to go down fighting."
Konate became more offensive minded in the second half and WVU needed him to as the Jayhawks cut the halftime deficit to eight, 51-43.
Beginning with a massive dunk off of a Javon Carter feed, Konate tallied eight points in the final 20 minutes of action, but was sent to the bench with his fourth foul with 5:17 left as Kansas went on a 16-4 run enroute to a 71-66 comeback victory - their first in five tries.
"I really don't know how (we came back)," senior guard Devonte' Graham said. "I think he (Konate) had all five of his blocks in the first half, but he was in foul trouble in the second half and that allowed us to take the ball to the bucket.
"Then, when they collapsed on us, we were able to get the ball to the open man and we were able to make shots."
Konate did finish with a double-double (16 points, 10 rebounds) and the five blocked shots, but only two other Mountaineers reached double figures - Carter (14) and junior Esa Ahmad (15).
WVU will be back at the Coliseum on Saturday for a 2 p.m. showdown with Texas.