National Basketball Association
West Virginia 61, Oklahoma 50
When: 9:00 PM ET, Wednesday, February 8, 2017
Where: Lloyd Noble Center, Norman, Oklahoma
Officials:
# John Higgins, # Rick Crawford, # Chance Moore
Attendance:
4663
By The Sports Xchange
NORMAN, Okla. -- West Virginia coach Bob Huggins was brief after the 13th-ranked Mountaineers' 61-50 win over Oklahoma on Wednesday night.
"We haven't played well defensively here for the last four or five games," an obviously irritated Huggins said. "We spent more time in the film room than we did on the floor."
Huggins' Mountaineers did get back to playing a bit of defense in the win, forcing 23 turnovers, but he was clearly perturbed by his team's sluggish performance out of the gate and offensive struggles throughout the night.
"It means we got to stop doing that," Huggins said of the 11-2 hole West Virginia was in less than four minutes into the game. "They played well and made shots. I think Lon (Kruger is) one of the great coaches in the game."
Huggins' two answers were the entirety of a terse postgame press conference.
The Mountaineers (19-5, 7-4 Big 12) shot just 20 of 54 (37 percent) from the field.
Oklahoma was worse, though.
Even when the Sooners were able to advance the ball up the court against West Virginia's press, Oklahoma struggled to find much room to shoot.
In the teams' first meeting, Jan. 18, Oklahoma turned the ball over just 12 times in an overtime upset of the then-No. 7 Mountaineers.
"I don't think we moved with the same conviction and commitment to be available," Kruger said. "West Virginia works hard. They do the best job in the country with their pressure. It didn't kill us there, but it did tonight."
Still, Oklahoma was within six in the final four minutes before Esa Ahmad's 3-pointer with just under 2:30 remaining stretched the margin to nine.
The Sooners (8-15, 2-9) shot just 33.3 percent and were worse from inside the arc (29.4 percent) than they were from outside.
About the only offensive bright spot in the game was Mountaineers redshirt freshman James Bolden.
Bolden scored 15 of his game-high 17 points in the first half to keep the Mountaineers in the game, hitting a layup just before the buzzer to send West Virginia into the break with a 27-25 lead.
Bolden and Nathan Adrian, who added 13 points, combined to go 11 for 19 from the field and 5 of 9 from behind the 3-point arc. The rest of the Mountaineers combined were 9 of 35 from the floor.
Freshmen Kameron McGusty and Jordan Shepherd had 11 each to lead Oklahoma.
Only two of McGusty's points came after halftime, while nine of Shepherd's points came in the second half.
Jordan Woodard's struggles continued, as the Sooners guard went just 2 of 11 from the field and missed all five of his 3-pointers.
Woodard, Oklahoma's leading scorer, is just 10 of 48 from the field in the past five games and just 5 of 21 from behind the arc.
Kruger used Woodard and Shepherd together on the floor for the first time since Dec. 17, going with a pair of point guards to help get the ball up the floor.
"We were just looking for people to give us a little activity out there and work to get open," Kruger said. "I thought Shep came in and did a terrific job and handled it with poise and moved and caught and moved the ball.
"I thought he did a really good job."
The loss was the sixth consecutive for the Sooners and the 13th in 15 games.
NOTES: West Virginia G Daxter Miles Jr. missed the game with a sprained ankle and was replaced in the lineup by Tarik Phillip, who started for the seventh time this season. Phillip scored four points. ... Before hitting a pair of free throws with 8:43 remaining in the game, Oklahoma PG Jordan Woodard had played 106 game minutes since his last trip to the free-throw line. ... Sooners F Khadeem Lattin tied a career high with 14 rebounds. ... West Virginia hosts Kansas State on Saturday. Oklahoma plays at Iowa State the same day.
Top Game Performances
| West Virginia |
|
Oklahoma |
|
James Bolden 17 |
Scoring |
Kameron McGusty 11 |
|
Tarik Phillip 3 |
Assists |
Jordan Shepherd 3 |
|
Nathan Adrian 7 |
Rebounds |
Khadeem Lattin 14 |
|
Esa Ahmad 4 |
Free Throws Made |
Khadeem Lattin 5 |
|
Jevon Carter 4 |
Steals |
Jordan Woodard 3 |
|
Sagaba Konate 5 |
Blocks |
Kristian Doolittle 2 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| West Virginia
|
61 |
37.0 |
9-19 |
12-16 |
12 |
29 |
8 |
12 |
14 |
| Oklahoma
|
50 |
33.3 |
6-14 |
12-17 |
7 |
33 |
7 |
8 |
23 |
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