Sooners Hand Mountaineers Fourth-Straight Loss
The West Virginia Mountaineers (13-6, 2-5) shot 37.7% from the field and dropped their fourth consecutive game following the 72-62 loss to the Oklahoma Sooners (13-7, 3-5) Wednesday night.
West Virginia opened the game with a pair of threes from guard Taz Sherman and forward Isaiah Cottrell to take the early 6-4 advantage. The Sooners answered with back-to-back buckets to take the lead.
With the game tied at 12, the Mountaineers went on nearly a seven-minute scoring drought. Still, the Sooners were unable to take full advantage but was able to build a 20-12 before WVU forward Gabe Osabuohien drove down the lane for a tough layup, following it with another contested lay-in to get the Mountaineers to within four.
Oklahoma went on a 7-0 run to build its largest lead of the half, but West Virginia battled back, answering with a 6-0 run to get within five. Nonetheless, Sooners forward Jacob Groves beat the buzzer with a deep three to take an eight-point lead into the locker room at the break.
Oklahoma Sooners forward Tanner Groves (35) celebrates with Oklahoma Sooners guard Bijan Cortes (14) during the second half at WVU Coliseum
Ben Queen-USA TODAY Sports
After shooting 37.5% from the field in the first half, West Virginia started 4-15 from the floor and trailed by 12 with just over four minutes to play.
The Sooners steadily built a 17-point advantage before guard Sean McNeil hit his first bucket of the game with a deep three, sparking a 9-0 run to get back within eight.
Oklahoma scored one field goal in the final seven minutes of play and the Mountaineers were able to get within six but the Sooners were able to keep the Mountaineers at arm's length, going 9-10 from the free throw line in the span and grab the 72-62 victory.
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