MORGANTOWN — West Virginia’s season officially hit the danger zone Saturday.

With monumental victories against the likes of Gonzaga, Kansas and Iowa State now in the rear-view mirror, the Mountaineers were blown away for a second consecutive game against an opponent near the bottom of the Big 12 standings.

K-State had five players finish in double figures in scoring and the Wildcats shot 47% (26 of 55) from the field for a 73-60 victory inside Bramlage Coliseum.

“We didn’t bring the tenacity like I thought we would have,” WVU head coach Darian DeVries said on his radio postgame show. “To be honest, I thought we had a couple great days of practice. We were incredibly focused after the loss, and we came out and were just flat for the first five minutes and never really recovered.”

WVU’s loss came on the heels of a 65-57 loss against struggling Arizona State and dropped the Mountaineers (13-6, 4-4 Big 12) to the middle of the pack of the 16-team Big 12.

Kansas State (8-11, 2-6) ended a six-game losing streak and won its third consecutive game against the Mountaineers.

The Wildcats made sure of that early, running out to a 19-2 lead over the first seven minutes of the game.

“We could never get any footing,” DeVries said. “I thought the last 20 minutes, we really competed and played the way that we need to play to be successful. I’m certainly proud of the guys for that, but trying to dig out of a 24-point hole at the half, that’s tough.”

Following a quick outburst from WVU point guard Javon Small, the Wildcats went right back it, extending their lead to as many as 26 points.

WVU’s lack of shooting — 7 of 29 (24.1%) in the first half — was the telling stat.

With the game tied 2-2, the Mountaineers went on a scoring drought that lasted 6:46.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, WVU hit another scoring drought of 5:40 that basically covered the end of the half.

So, over a 20-minute half, WVU went 12 minutes and 26 seconds without scoring a single point.

That’s not good math.

“You can’t put yourselves in these types of holes,” DeVries said. “The Arizona State game was the same way. We started that game down 10-2. It’s hard to always keep crawling back.”

Meanwhile, K-State forced seven turnovers and had an 8-0 edge in points off turnovers and a 9-0 run in fast-break points in the first half.

West Virginia wasn’t just getting beat. The Mountaineers were getting beat both physically and athletically, too.

WVU’s defense, it’s hallmark for the upsets it had pulled off throughout the season, could never get any solid footing.

K-State made 16 of its first 30 attempts (53.3%) and had 18 points in the paint over the first 20 minutes.

The second half was, basically, no more than just figuring out the final stats. WVU got no closer than 12 points, and when that happened, the Mountaineers went on another scoreless drought that lasted more than four minutes.

Outside of Small — he had 22 points and five assists — the stats didn’t look good for the Mountaineers.

WVU’s star point guard made 7 of 16 from the field, while the rest of his teammates combined for 35% shooting.

Kansas State was led by Dug McDaniel, who finished with 15 points and six assists.

WVU now returns to Morgantown with its first losing streak of the season. It won’t get any easier, as No. 7 Houston travels to the Coliseum on Wednesday.

The Cougars beat WVU 70-54 on Jan. 15.

Notes

** WVU has now lost four straight inside Bramlage Coliseum.

** For the seventh time in eight Big 12 games, the Mountaineers were outrebounded. K-State had a 40-36 edge on the boards.

** WVU has gone nine consecutive games without reaching 80 points. The Mountaineers were held to less than 40% shooting for a third consecutive game.