Oklahoma Basketball: Much Went Right for Sooners at West Virginia

Oklahoma basketball made a strong statement on Saturday that that rumblings of their demise are premature, beating 10th-ranked West Virginia at its own game and on the road.

Buddy Hield missed his first two shots from the field, but he quickly got in rhythm after that, canning 5 of 9 treys after that on his way to a 29-point performance and in a breakout 76-62 win over West Virginia.

The victory, in one of the toughest places to play for visiting Big 12 teams, stopped a two game losing string for the Sooners, who had lost three of their past four and fallen out of the top spot in the national rankings. Moreover, Oklahoma had shot miserably and lacked much energy in each of the three losses.

This was a much different Sooner team that we saw in action on Saturday. They shot much better, played tough defense and commanded the boards. And their leader, Buddy Hield, took matters into his own hands, scoring nine of OU’s final 24 points and outscoring the West Virginia starting five 29-23 for the game.

Hield, of course, gets the headlines for his outstanding scoring performance, but the unsung Sooner hero in this game was sophomore Khadeem Lattin, who had the game of his life and was a huge contributor to the victory, Oklahoma’s sixth over a top-25 team this season. OU’s 10th win over teams in the top 50 of the ESPN Basketball Power Index leads the nation.

Lattin pulled down 13 rebounds in the game, six on the offensive glass, recorded six blocks and scored nine points in what has to be his best overall performance this season.

“They made more shots than we did…and they have Buddy Hield, and we don’t.” —Bob Huggins, West Virginia head coach

Asked in his postgame interview session about the difficulty the Mountaineers had in overcoming the Oklahoma lead in the second half, West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said:

“I think the biggest thing is we got destroyed on the glass. They outrebounded us about as bad as we’ve been outrebounded all year,” he said. “They made more shots than we did. (And, finally) they have Buddy Hield, and we don’t.”

The win upped the OU overall season record to 21-6  and 9-5 in the Big 12, tied with West Virginia and Baylor for second place in the conference, two games behind 11-time defending league champion Kansas. After two successive road games, the Sooners return home to Lloyd Noble Center on Wednesday for a Bedlam rematch with in-state rival Oklahoma State.

What went right for the Sooners in the West Virginia game:

• The Big 12’s leading scorer, Buddy Hield, returned to his outstanding form, pouring in a game-high 29 points, including his signature three-point accuracy, sinking 5 of 11 three-balls.
• Oklahoma handled the “Press West Virginia” defense, turning the ball over just nine times in the game. The Sooners’ nine turnovers represented just the third time all season that West Virginia has forced fewer than 10 turnovers in a game. It also marked a sharp contrast to the 18 turnovers OU committed in the game with the Mountaineers in Norman. In that game, the 18 OU turnovers resulted in 21 West Virginia points. On Saturday, WVU had just 11 points off of turnovers.
• The Oklahoma interior defense outrebounded the Big 12’s best rebounding team by nine, 48-37, including 18 offensive rebounds that resulted in 16 second-chance points. Sooner rebound leaders in the game were Khadeem Lattin (13), Isaiah Cousins (8) and Ryan Spangler (6)
• Oklahoma led 28-26 at the half. This was the first time in the last five games – three of them losses and one that could have been had Buddy Hield not connected on a game-winning three-point shot at the buzzer against Texas – that the Sooners have had a halftime lead.
• Because West Virginia likes to play at a fast pace, that helped enable the Oklahoma transition game. The Sooners scored 12 fast-break points in the game.
• The Oklahoma defense came up huge in the game, holding the Mountaineers to 21 of 63 shooting for 33.3 percent. Recently teams have been shooting better than 40 percent against the Sooner D.

What went wrong for the Sooners in the win at West Virginia:

• Oklahoma still struggled with its shooting at the outset of the game. The Sooners missed their first four shots and ended the first-half shooting 34 percent from the field, 12 points below their season average. They shot better in the second half, finishing the game at 40 percent. That was better than in three of OU’s last four games, but still well below the team’s season average.
• The Oklahoma bench was dramatically outscored by the opposition. The West Virginia reserves outscored the OU bench 39-7.
• The Sooners did not shoot that well from the free-throw line, making just 18 of 27 for under 70 percent.