West Virginia basketball got back to its winning ways by using a strong defensive effort in route to beating Oklahoma State 55-41 for the first Big 12 Conference win of the year.
It was the fifth win in the last six tries for the Mountaineers in Stillwater and we break down what unfolded by looking at key stats and elements from the game that ultimately led to the result.
--Holy defense, West Virginia! The Mountaineers held Oklahoma State to a season low 41-points (lowest since the Mountaineers held Coppin State to 38 on Dec. 20, 2017), while holding the Cowboys to 29-percent from the floor and 1-20 from three-point range. That’s the worst that an opponent in the Big 12 has performed against the Mountaineers from three since Kansas State was 1-18 in Jan. 2016. This team just plays suffocating half-court defense at times and really has been able to limit opponents. The Mountaineers also forced a total of 19 turnovers in this game. They did a good job with ball screens and just getting their hands-on passes to force deflections. Guys were just giving maximum effort and hitting the deck. Oklahoma State only had 3 assists on 14 made baskets in this one.
--I think for as big as the Ohio State game was for the optics of this team and getting that marquee win in the non-conference portion of the slate, this one was every bit as critical for the Mountaineers. It was a deflating loss on the road at Kansas, a game West Virginia led at the half and shot themselves in the foot over and over so it would be easy to see a possible hangover with the quick turnaround. No, that wasn’t to be, as West Virginia traveled to Oklahoma State and just physically beat up the Cowboys with their defense and scoring just enough to get it done. I think that says a lot about where this young basketball team is at this stage and is the fifth win in the last six games for the program in Stillwater.
--Turnovers again an issue here as West Virginia coughed it up 20 times. That must be remedied because again, there were 67 possessions in this game and 20 of those were empty. The Mountaineers finished at .821 points per possession but if you take the turnovers out of it, that total is 1.170. Those mistakes resulted in 17 of the 41 total Cowboys points or 41-percent.
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