Saturday could have been a lot of things for a West Virginia team coming off their biggest win of the season.
It ended up being an absolute thumping of Oklahoma State as the Mountaineers cruised to a 69-50 victory at the WVU Coliseum.
It was the perfect opportunity for a potential let-down spot for West Virginia. The Mountaineers were coming off their biggest win of the season to face an Oklahoma State squad who lost their most recent game. Instead, it was a game that featured Javon Small taking revenge on his former team, Sencire Harris knocking down his first 3-pointer of the season, and West Virginia improving to 2-0 in Big 12 play for the first time since the 2017-2018 season.
The start of this game seemed like it would end up being a Big 12 slugfest. West Virginia scored five points in the opening two minutes but would only score another two points over the next five-plus minutes, as the Mountaineers led 7-4 early on.
West Virginia took a 10-6 lead with 11:08 to play and would simply never look back.
West Virginia went on a 22-1 run, with the only Oklahoma State point coming after a West Virginia technical foul.
The run started with four triples from two players. Small knocked down two, while freshman Jonathan Powell knocked home the other two. Small would score eight consecutive points during the run, including a dunk to put the Mountaineers in front, 27-7, with 7:43 to play in the first half.
The dunk prompted an Oklahoma State timeout, but nothing would change following the timeout. The Mountaineers would draw an offensive foul on the first possession before Sencire Harris broke a 0-for-28 start from beyond the arc to the season as he made his first 3-pointer of the season. Harris would then make the next one he attempted to put WVU in front by 27, and that’s what they led by at the break, leading 46-19 at halftime.
How dominant was West Virginia in that first half — the Mountaineers made more 3-pointers (8) than Oklahoma State had made shots (7). Small had 18 points at halftime, while Powell had another 11.
The second half would be more similar to how the first half started for the Mountaineers. There was sloppiness and choppiness on offense, while Oklahoma State started to figure some things out on the offensive end themselves. WVU led by 28 before the Cowboys went on a 7-0 run, and they would continue to try and get back into the game. The closest they would get to the score in the second half was 13 points.
West Virginia's offense struggled throughout the second half. They shot 36 percent from the field in the second half, turning the ball over eight total times.
West Virginia led 57-44 after an Oklahoma State 3-pointer, and West Virginia turned to Small, who made a layup to break a scoring drought that lasted more than six minutes.
Oklahoma State had a chance to get WVU's lead down to 11 but then missed free throws, followed by an 8-0 West Virginia run to help seal the win.
Small finished the game with 24 points, 11 rebounds, four assists, and three steals, facing his former team.
Another player facing his former team was Pat Suemnick, who returned to the WVU Coliseum as a visiting player. He scored three points and had three rebounds in 11 minutes played.
West Virginia ended the game shooting 42 percent from the field, knocking down 11 of their 30 3-pointers. The Mountaineers forced 17 turnovers, turning those into 20 points.
The Mountaineers also welcomed back Amani Hansberry, who missed the Kansas game after exiting WVU's game against Mercyhurst on Dec. 22 in the opening minute. He ended up playing 13 total minutes, scoring six points and grabbing three rebounds.
This was the second conference game in a row where the Mountaineers did not trail the entirety of the game. WVU's next game comes on Tuesday when they host Arizona.
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