West Virginia Searching for First Win over Oklahoma in Nearly Four Years
The West Virginia Mountaineers (13-9, 2-7) welcome the Oklahoma Sooners (12-10, 2-7) Saturday night with tipoff set for 8:00 p.m. EST. Broadcast of the game will begin on ESPN News before switching to ESPN following the conclusion of the Los Angeles Lakers, New Orleans Pelicans matchup.
The Sooners grabbed the first meeting between the two 77-76 in Norman (OK). West Virginia trailed for most of the game and never held the lead but had an opportunity with under two minutes remaining after tying the game at 70. However, a pair of missed free throws and three-pointers in the following possessions, gave Oklahoma the win.
Oklahoma has gone 0-4 in Big 12 Conference play since beating the Mountaineers but did notch a win over, then, second-ranked Alabama last week, 93-69, as part of the Big 12/SEC Challenge.
The Sooners hold a league-worst -4.63 turnover margin. However, they rank second in the league in opponent field goal percentage at 42.2% and sit fourth in the conference in scoring defense at 70.5 ppg.
Oklahoma guard Grant Sherfield (25) shoots for three over Alabama guard Jaden Bradley (0) in the first half during a basketball game between The Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and The Alabama Crimson Tide at the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Okla., Saturday, Jan. 28, 2023.
NATHAN J. FISH/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK
Sooners leading scorer Grant Sherfield is averaging 16.9 points per game. The guard scored 22 against the Mountaineers and went for a career-high 30 points in the win over Alabama.
Forward Jalen Hill produced 14 points and six rebounds in the win over the Mountaineers and second on the team in scoring with 10.3 ppg. He also set a career-high against Alabama with 26 points.
The loss to the Sooners capped a five game-skid for the Mountaineers before notching their first Big 12 win against TCU. West Virginia has won three out of the last five games but a loss to TCU on Tuesday night, in the return game, derailed the Mountaineers’ momentum.
“They didn’t come to play - they know they didn’t come to play,” said West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins. “We were bad. We had very little enthusiasm.”
Huggins also added he believed there were “a lot of heart-to-heart conversations” since the loss.
West Virginia allowed 48 points in the paint against TCU, at times, with ease.
“We haven’t been great defensively, but we were horrible,” said Huggins. “We didn’t make breaks on the ball, we didn’t guard the ball, we put no pressure on the ball. We didn’t offensive or defensive rebound the ball. It was a very lackluster, I guess to be kind, a very lackluster performance. They didn’t seem to have a lot of enthusiasm about playing. Then, you start out missing shots and I think that makes it worse.”
Jan 31, 2023; Fort Worth, Texas, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers head coach Bob Huggins reacts against the TCU Horned Frogs during the first half at Ed and Rae Schollmaier Arena.
Chris Jones-USA TODAY Sports
West Virginia has occasionally lacked energy and/or focus this season with TCU being the latest example. Naturally, it has caused inconsistent play, predominantly during the conference slate. The Mountaineers are shooting 41.2% from the field, including 29.5% from three-point range.
“The thing we’ve been consistent in is our inconsistency,” said Huggins. “We consistently come out and make a couple of shots and then don’t make anymore. We come out and shoot shots that look good, they go in and then, all of a sudden, you're banging them off the front of the rim – we can’t get it over the rim. It’s just, we’ve been so terribly inconsistent in so many ways. There’s been times when defensively we’ve been pretty good, and then there’s been times when we’ve been like we didn’t even really want to be there.”
West Virginia brought in multiple veterans during the offseason via the transfer portal in hopes to find leadership coupled with the freshman returning to the program for their sophomore season.
Jan 31, 2023; Fort Worth, Texas, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers guard Erik Stevenson (10) drives to the basket past TCU Horned Frogs guard Damion Baugh (10) during the second half at Ed and Rae Schollmaier Arena.
Chris Jones-USA TODAY Sports
South Carolina transfer Erik Stevenson leads the team in scoring, averaging 14.0 ppg while Texas transfer Trey Mitchell is second with 12.3 ppg and Iowa transfer Joe Toussaint is third at 10.5 ppg. However, the leaders on the box score haven’t led to wins on the floor and Huggins cites a lack of a ‘true’ leader on the team.
“We don’t have a leader - We really don’t,” said Huggins. “We just don’t have that strong leadership – the guy who drags everybody in and says, ‘this BS has got to stop, man. Now!’. They’re good guys, we don’t have bad guys. We got really good guys. They’re good people, they, for the most part, give you some effort, maybe not as quite as much as what you want but we don’t have that hard ass guy that we’ve had before. We’ve had guys that would go in the huddle, and I would never have to say a word.”
Oklahoma leads the all-time series 17-9 and currently has a seven-game winning streak over the Mountaineers. West Virginia's last win over Oklahoma was in the quarterfinals of the 2019 Big 12 Conference tournament (March, 13).
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