National Basketball Association
Oklahoma 76, West Virginia 62
When: 4:00 PM ET, Saturday, February 20, 2016
Where: WVU Coliseum, Morgantown, West Virginia
Officials:
# Lee Cassell, # Darron George, # John Higgins
Attendance:
15289
By The Sports Xchange
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- Guard Buddy Hield poured in 29 points and No. 3 Oklahoma outworked the Big 12's top rebounding team to grab a 76-62 win at No. 10 West Virginia on Saturday.
"This game helped us get back our swagger," said Hield after the Sooners (21-6, 9-5) ended a two-game losing streak by pulling away from a 52-all deadlock over the final eight minutes. "Everybody wanted to come to West Virginia and prove something. It was fun beating them on their home court, out-toughing them on their home court."
Guard Isaiah Cousins contributed 12 points, eight rebounds and five assists and Jordan Woodard finished with 11 points and six assists as Oklahoma swept the season series.
Guard Tarik Phillip scored 17 off the bench and Jaysean Paige chipped in 13 to pace West Virginia (20-7, 9-5). The Mountaineers suffered their second home loss of the season and slipped two games back of league leader Kansas.
The Mountaineers entered with a plus-nine rebounding margin but were outrebounded 48-37.
Forward Khadeem Lattin, the last-second hero of Oklahoma?s win in the first meeting, grabbed 13 rebounds, blocked six shots and said the Sooners emphasized setting the tone inside.
"They destroyed us on the glass," West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said.
Mountaineers forward Jonathan Holton had nine points and 11 rebounds, but Devin Williams was held to 10 points and three rebounds for West Virginia before fouling out on a technical in the final minute.
Second nationally in generating turnovers at 18.6 per game, West Virginia forced only two in the first 18 minutes. But early in the second half, Nathan Adrian stole an inbound pass from Woodard and put in the go-ahead layup. After Woodard was assessed a technical, Tarik Phillips made two free throws and West Virginia had six points in 18 seconds to lead 32-28.
Woodard countered with six consecutive points to launch Oklahoma's 21-6 run.
West Virginia quickly erased the 52-43 deficit with a 9-0 run only to see Oklahoma respond with nine unanswered points.
Paige, the Mountaineers' leading scorer, was initially ineffective upon returning from spraining his right ankle in Tuesday's loss at Texas. He finished 4-of-16 from the floor and Huggins said he obviously wasn't 100 percent and didn't explode at the rim the way he has been.
West Virginia scored only three baskets in the final 7:48 and shot 33 percent overall, including 1-of-10 by point guard Jevon Carter.
"They made more shots than we made," Huggins said. "They've got Buddy Hield and we don't."
The most accurate 3-point shooting team in Division I, Oklahoma started 0-of-9 from deep before Hield made three 3-pointers late in the half for a 28-26 lead. He finished 5-of-11 on 3-pointers and 9-of-21 overall.
The Sooners wouldn't normally celebrate 40 percent shooting, but it was an uptick from making 33 and 38 percent in back-to-back losses to Kansas and Texas Tech.
Oklahoma closed the game by making 7-of-10 from the floor.
"This group still will make shots," Sooners coach Lon Kruger said. "We haven't done it for a while, but we know they'll work at it."
NOTES: The Mountaineers played without G Daxter Miles (hamstring) for the second straight game. ... West Virginia unveiled a life-sized statue of the late Hot Rod Hundley during a pregame ceremony that featured alumni Jerry West and Arizona Diamondbacks owner Ken Kendrick. ... G Buddy Hield passed C Stacey King for fifth place on Oklahoma's all-time scoring list. He also made four 3-pointers, giving him a school-record 109 this season. The previous record was held by Nate Erdmann in 1997.
Top Game Performances
| Oklahoma |
|
West Virginia |
|
Buddy Hield 29 |
Scoring |
Tarik Phillip 17 |
|
Jordan Woodard 6 |
Assists |
Jevon Carter 3 |
|
Khadeem Lattin 13 |
Rebounds |
Jonathan Holton 11 |
|
Buddy Hield 6 |
Free Throws Made |
Jaysean Paige 5 |
|
Khadeem Lattin 3 |
Steals |
Jonathan Holton 2 |
|
Khadeem Lattin 6 |
Blocks |
Jevon Carter 2 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Oklahoma
|
76 |
40.3 |
8-27 |
18-27 |
14 |
46 |
9 |
7 |
9 |
| West Virginia
|
62 |
33.3 |
7-21 |
13-18 |
7 |
33 |
2 |
6 |
12 |
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