No. 14 West Virginia fell to No. 12 Oklahoma 91-90 in Morgantown in double overtimes. It was a game of back and forth between the two clubs but in the end the Mountaineers fall to 14-6, 7-4 in the Big 12.
West Virginia has multiple chances to win the game but lost to the Sooners for the second time this season. Managing Editor Keenan Cummings provides his thoughts and observations on what unfolded on the court and what could come next.
--West Virginia had plenty of opportunities to win this one, but just couldn’t do it. You aren’t going to beat many top tier teams when you shoot 11-21 from the foul line and that’s what happened. Oklahoma made one less from the line despite taking 11 less attempts. That can’t happen in a game like this. Give Lon Kruger a lot of credit, as he was able to adjust and get Austin Reaves matched up in favorable situations over and over again in the second half and overtime and he kept exploiting them. Bob Huggins adjusted with the offense for defense substitutions between Derek Culver and Gabe Osabuohien, but the Mountaineers just couldn’t make the plays down the stretch to close this game out. This was a chance for sole possession of second place in the Big 12 and now the Sooners have the tie breaker moving ahead as they sweep the season series. This was the best effort against Oklahoma in some time, but it still wasn’t enough to get it done. It ends a really hot start for West Virginia and they now sit at 6-4 in the 10-games since the departure of Oscar Tshiebwe albeit against much tougher competition.
--Junior forward Derek Culver had scored 11 points in the past three games against Oklahoma and was 5-25 from the field with 12 turnovers compared to 7 assists. It was a completely different story today as the big man finished with 29 points and 14 rebounds across 33 minutes. He was taken out of the game on defensive sets late but really asserted himself and you could tell this one really meant something to him. Culver was able to finish around the rim and crash the glass. It was an encouraging sign but obviously it doesn’t matter if you don’t win the game and he couldn't get that final one over the rim. The Mountaineers as a team scored 48 points in the paint in this one and Culver was a big part of that.
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