No. 2 Kansas vs. West Virginia final score: Jayhawks' defense holds off Mountaineers, 61-56

Travis Releford scored 15 as the No. 2 Kansas Jayhawks extended the nation’s longest winning streak to 18 games with a 61-56 victory over the West Virginia Mountaineers on Monday evening.

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The Jayhawks led by 15 at one point in the game, but the Mountaineers weren't going to go away quietly. Center Aaric Murray led West Virginia with 17 points on 7-of-15 shooting, but the rest of the team struggled to find the basket. West Virginia shot just 37 percent as a team.

Both Kevin Noreen and Deniz Kilicli struggled with limited minutes because of foul trouble. With their front line limited for much of the game, West Virginia struggled on the boards and were outrebounded, 34-25. They still kept the game close with tough defense and a little bit of luck, as the Jayhawks shot just 18-of-34 from the free throw line. Kansas normally shoots close to 74 percent from the free throw line as a team.

As hard as it was for the Mountaineers to put the ball in the cylinder, the Jayhawks had that much easier of a time, shooting 54.1 percent from the floor. Center Jeff Withey scored 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting, and Releford added 15 as well with 7-of-9 shooting. Ben McLemore added 13 points, but was just 3-of-7 from the field, getting most of his points at the charity stripe where he went 6-for-8.

The game stayed as close as it did because Kansas had a hard time holding onto the ball, committing 16 turnovers on the night. It was the sixth straight game the Jayhawks have held an opponent to under 60 points, as they improved to 7-0 in Big 12 play.