Oklahoma basketball: Three takeaways from Sooners’ much-needed win at West Virginia

From the opening tip on the road at West Virginia, there was a since of urgency from an Oklahoma basketball team that had lost four in a row.

The Sooners men’s basketball team answered the bell, securing a 72-62 victory over the West Virginia Mountaineers Wednesday night at the WVU Coliseum in Morgantown.

The Sooners are now 13-7 and 3-5 in Big 12 play. The loss dropped West Virginia to 2-5 in the Big 12 and 13-6 overall.

Oklahoma has won the last three meetings with West Virginia in Morgantown, which isn’t an easy thing to do. Historically, Morgantown is a difficult place to play for any team in the Big 12, but the Sooners have made it look straightforward the last three trips.

On Wednesday the night, Oklahoma controlled the game from the opening tip and put a West Virginia offense in difficult situations.

Here’s three takeaways that tell the story of the game and a much-needed Sooners’ win.

Tanner Groves found his groove

During non-conference play, we saw the impact and aptitude that Tanner Groves brings to the hardwood, but that has been missing since late December.

Groves crawled out of his funk Wednesday night in Morgantown. The 6-foot, 10-inch senior forward made an immediate impact, going 9 of 11 from the field and finishing with 21 points in the Sooners’ victory. He also grabbed six rebounds and hit a three-ball late in the first half. It felt like something was missing out of the Oklahoma offense during the four-game skid, and it was Tanner Groves being non-existent.

"“I felt like the last four games, me personally and the team in general, we’ve been on a little bit of a skid,” Groves said in a postgame interview. “That happens from time to time. I’m able to realize that and bounce back.”"

Groves and the Sooners did indeed bounce back at West Virginia, and Groves was a big reason why. Groves went on stretches of three points at Texas, six points at TCU, and eleven points vs. Baylor on Jan.22, but the big man boosted his play Wednesday night against West Virginia, tallying 21 points.

And Tanner wasn’t the only Groves brother making noise at West Virginia on Wednesday night. Younger brother Jacob made his first start of the season and contributed a season-high 12 points and four rebounds

The free throw line was friendly to the Sooners

During the four-game skid., the Sooners had trouble getting to the foul line. Against West Virginia, Oklahoma went 21of 22 (95.5 percent) from the free-throw stripe, which is a winning recipe to win on the road. At one point, the Sooners made 18 consecutive free throws, which helped them increase the lead in the finaltwo minutes of the game.

The Sooners came out on top in the rebounding battle, grabbing 32 boards to 26 by the Mountaineers. Bob Huggins was coaching his 500th game as the West Virginia head coach, but the Sooners spoiled Huggy’s evening.

Marvin Johnson continues to make an impact

In the last two games, the Ardmore, Oklahoma, native, Marvin Johnson, has taken full advantage of his minutes. After spending most of the early season on the bench, Johnson has been a spark the last two games against Baylor and West Virginia.

The Eastern Illinois transfer played 21 minutes Wednesday night and scored six points along with four rebounds for the Sooners. The length and athleticism have been highly noticeable out of Johnson, who will continue to make an impact for the Sooners.

“You can just see the way he cares right now in what he’s doing,” head coach Porter Moser said in his postgame press conference. “He’s on top of more of the details of the stuff we do… he has the athletic ability to do some things.”

The Sooners don’t have much time to celebrate the West Virginia victory. Next up, the Sooners travel to Auburn, Alabama, to take on the No. 1-ranked Auburn Tigers in the Big 12/SEC Challenge.