Oklahoma basketball: West Virginia is OU’s 4th ranked opponent in February
By Chip Rouse
Men’s Oklahoma basketball is coming off a giant home win over Texas Tech, and the Sooners have a chance to get another on Saturday against 20th-ranked West Virginia, but they’ll have to do it on the road.
The Sooners (17-11, 7-8) are just 1-6 away from home in conference play this season, their lone road win coming at Texas in early January. West Virginia hasn’t been any better playing away from home, with seven of its eight Big 12 losses taking place on the road, but the Mountaineers have been almost unbeatable at home, where they have won 13 of 14 games this season.
Kansas is the only Big 12 team to win at West Virginia this season, and the Jayhawks had to come from behind late to do so.
With just three regular-season games remaining, Oklahoma sits in a fourth-place tie with West Virginia and Texas, all with identical 7-8 conference records. If the season ended today, however, the Sooners would be the No. 4 seed in the Big 12 Tournament by virtue of holding the tiebreaker over both the Mountaineers and Longhorns.
The all-time series between the Sooners and Mountaineers is just 20 games old. Oklahoma has won 11 of the 20 games, including the earlier game this season in Norman. OU defeated then13-ranked West Virginia 69-59 on Feb. 8 behind a 27-point performance by senior forward Kristian Doolittle. The Sooners are 2-3 in games in Morgantown, but have lost in their last two visits there.
West Virginia has lost four of its last five games after suffering the loss to Oklahoma. The Sooners haven’t fared that much better over that same time frame, snapping a three-game losing streak on Tuesday with a 14-point home win over 22nd-ranked Texas Tech.
This is going to be an extremely difficult game for the Sooners to win without playing a near perfect game. Inconsistent offense has plagued OU all season, and in West Virginia the Sooners will be facing an angry team and a head coach that are clearly tired of the recent string of losses the Mountaineers have endured.
Scouting report
West Virginia ranks in the bottom half of the Big 12 in shooting percentage, but they are able to compensate with plenty of second chances created by tremendous rebounding strength.
The Mountaineers lead the Big 12 with a plus-eight rebounding margin, and that strength is especially advantageous on the offensive end, where they average a Big 12-best 15.0 boards a game. Not only does that rebounding edge give the Mountaineers second chances on their end of the court, but it also limits their opponents scoring opportunities.
Six-foot, 9-inch freshman Oscar Tshiebwe and 6-foot, 10-inch Derek Culver are West Virginia’s main scoring threats, averaging 11.1 and 10.5 points per game, respectively. In the earlier game with Oklahoma, however, 6-foot, 7-inch senior guard Jermaine Haley led the attack with 15 points.
The Mountaineers have always played solid defense under head coach Bob Huggins, and this year is no exception. West Virginia ranks just behind Kansas among Big 12 teams in field-goal percentage defense. The Mountaineers’ are limiting opponents to 38 percent shooting.
For only the fourth time all season, Oklahoma got big games from each of their Big Three — Kristian Doolittle, Brady Manek and Austin Reaves — in the Sooners 14-point win over Texas Tech on Tuesday. The Sooners are going to need a similar level of performance from all three to beat West Virginia on its home floor on Saturday. In addition, OU needs solid offensive contributions from Alondes Williams and De’Vion Harmon, both of whom have had double-digit scoring games.
The Sooners are the only team in the Big 12 with three starters averaging at least 14.0 points per game.
Oklahoma is the worst team in the Big 12 in the offensive rebounding department, which makes limiting turnovers extremely important. The Sooners average just 11 turnovers per game, best in the Big 12. They also commit the fewest personal fouls of all the teams in the Big 12, which limits their opponents’ free-throw attempts.
Bottom line
Depending on how Texas fares on the road at Texas Tech on Saturday, the winner of this game will take over sole possession of fourth place in the Big 12 standings with two conference games to go. West Virginia’s size is the front court will make it difficult for OU to get scoring opportunities in close to the basket. The Mountaineers are going to force the Sooner shooters to make perimeter shots, which from anyone not named Brady Manek has not been an Oklahoma strength. West Virginia holds on at the end to capture a much-needed win.
West Virginia 76, Oklahoma 68