This one was way too close for Oklahoma basketball comfort. But the Sooners will gladly take it.
A last-second tip-in averted an extra session and gave the Sooners an important 70-68 win at home over No. 11 West Virginia.
For the second consecutive game, Oklahoma dodged the upset bullet by pulling out a two-point win, upping its season record to 15-1 and, in all likelihood, claiming the top spot in the two major national polls come Monday.
West Virginia was trying to become the first team to defeat a No. 1 and No. 2 team in consecutive games since 2008, when Kansas defeated North Carolina and Memphis in back-to-back Final Four games to win the national championship. The Mountaineers defeated No. 1 Kansas 74-63 earlier in the week, forcing the Jayhawks into 22 turnovers.
The Mountaineers were hoping to bring their patented heavy defensive pressure, which they affectionately refer to as “Press” Virginia, against the Sooners, and it did fluster OU at points in the game. Oklahoma committed 18 turnovers, but just two more than the Mountaineers committed themselves.
Oklahoma jumped out to a 7-0 advantage and led for the first eight minutes of the game. West Virginia took the lead at the 11:47 mark in the opening half and remained on top till just before intermission when the Sooners briefly regained the lead at 34-32. The score was knotted at 34-all at the break.
As poorly as Oklahoma shot the ball in the opening 20 minutes, it was a bit surprising that the score was tied at halftime. The Mountaineers shot 48 percent in the first half, while holding the Sooners to just 31 percent from the field. Free throws are what kept OU in the game in the opening half. The Sooners went to the foul line 15 times in the first half and made good on 13 of them.
Oklahoma opened up a five-point advantage right after halftime, but five minutes into the second stanza, West Virginia had erased the OU advantage and regained the lead at 42-41. Over the next couple of minutes, the Mountaineers extended the lead to seven points, their biggest margin of the game. Oklahoma went on an 11-3 run to regain the lead at 52-51 on a pair of Ryan Spangler free throws with 9:35 remaining in the game.
With the Sooners leading 64-58 with about four and a half minutes left in the game, the Mountaineers made one last charge, tying the game at 68 on two free throws by Jonathan Holton. On the final possession of the game, OU’s Jordan Woodard drove to the basket but missed a contested short jumper. That’s when Khadeem Lattin got position for the offensive rebound and made the game-winning tip in with just a fraction over two seconds left on the clock.
Buddy, Hield knocked away the ensuing West Virginia inbounds pass, but by the time its was retrieved by the Mountaineers’ Jevon Carter all he could do was put up a desperation heave from three-quarters court. It served as welcome redemption for both Lattin, who missed the front end of a one-and-one free throw that likely would have won the Kansas game in regulation, and Hield, who had an in-bounds pass stolen by Kansas’ Frank Mason III with the Sooners trailing by just a point and 15 seconds remaining in the third overtime.
What Went Right for OU in the Game
The Sooners won the battle of the boards against the Big 12’s best rebounding team. Ryan Spangler grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds for OU and Khadeem Lattin had eight boards, six of them on the offensive end and none bigger than the one he got on the tip-in in Jordan Woodard’s missed shot to win the game. Oklahoma outrebounded the Mountaineers 39-37 and converted 19 second-chance points to the Mountaineers’ 7.
Oklahoma made 27 of 32 from the free-throw line (6 of 7 by Spangler and 7 of 8 by Dante Buford), while the Mountaineers made just 13 of 22 from the charity stripe.
West Virginia came into the game leading the country in steals, averaging 11 per game with its high-intensity defensive pressure. The Mountaineers met their average with 12 steals against the Sooners, but OU returned the favor taking a season-best 11 balls away from West Virginia, four of those credited to Buddy Hield.
More from OU Basketball
- Oklahoma basketball: OU’s 2023-24 nonconference slate includes North Carolina
- Oklahoma basketball: Top in-state recruit commits to Sooners for 2024
- Oklahoma basketball: Sooner men’s 2024 Big 12 schedule revealed
- Oklahoma basketball: Offseason roster – Sooner hoops in the middle of the grind
- Oklahoma basketball: Sooner hooper Austin Reaves inks max contract with the Lakers
What Went Wrong in the Game
The nation’s second-leading scorer, Buddy Hield, had 17 points, nine points below his season average. It was the first time in the previous nine games the OU All-American had scored fewer than 20 points. He had nine points in the first half, all on three-point shots. As a team, the Sooners shot a season-low 33 percent on 18 of 54, and also had their worst shooting game from three-point range. After averaging 46 percent in three-point shooting through 15 games, No. 1 in the nation in that category, OU found the range just 7 of 24 times (24 percent) from behind the arc against West Virginia.
The Oklahoma defense had been leading the Big 12 in field-goal percentage defense, limiting opponents to 39 percent shooting, but West Virginia shot 48 percent against the Sooners on Saturday, seven percentage points better than their season average.
Next Up
Oklahoma heads to No. 17 Iowa State for a “Big Monday” showdown. By game time, the Sooners should be the No. 1 team in the country. This past week, five of the nation’s top-10 team lost, including No. 1 Kansas, No. 3 Maryland and No. 4 Michigan State.