WVU advances to Big 12 quarterfinals with 72-71 win over Oklahoma

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West Virginia (13-19) advanced to the Big 12 Tournament quarterfinals with a 72-71 win over 7th-seeded Oklahoma (19-13) during the first round Wednesday night in Kansas City.

Wednesday night's contest saw the 10th-seeded Mountaineers win a back-and-forth thriller as three different West Virginia players finished in double figures.

The game came down to what would've been the game-tying three-pointer at the buzzer by Oklahoma's Christian James, but after review, the shot was ruled a two-pointer.

Lamont West led the Mountaineers with 15 points and Brady Manek scored 22 for the Sooners.

Oklahoma got on the board first with a basket from Manek which was answered by a three-pointer from Emmitt Matthews to give West Virginia an early 3-2 lead.

Some back-and-forth action followed, but after a Kristian Doolittle jumper gave Oklahoma a one-point lead, the Mountaineers went on a 7-0 run that was capped off by a dunk from Logan Routt.

West Virginia’s run gave the team a 12-6 lead over the Sooners, but the run ended after Doolittle made a layup to cut Oklahoma’s deficit down to four points.

A free throw from Routt and three-pointer from Brandon Knapper extended West Virginia’s lead to 16-8. Oklahoma then responded with a 6-0 run to West Virginia’s lead down to just two points, but the Mountaineers would answer back with a 6-0 run of their own.

This run from West Virginia made it 22-14 in favor of the Mountaineers with 8:02 left until halftime.

After a layup from Miles Reynolds, West Virginia maintained its eight-point lead with a pair of free throws from Andrew Gordon. This lead was short-lived for West Virginia as Oklahoma regained the lead at 28-27 thanks to a 12-3 run.

A pair of jump shots from West, including a three-point play, helped West Virginia regain the lead at 32-28. After a Manek jumper and shot clock violation on West Virginia, Oklahoma tied the game at 32-all with a basket from Doolittle.

Routt made another free throw to put West Virginia ahead by a point, but Oklahoma would end up taking a 35-33 halftime lead after James sunk a three-pointer that was assisted by Doolittle.

A layup from Haley to start the second half tied the game up at 35, but Manek would continue to have a strong impact for the Sooners as he scored the team’s first eight points of the half.

With Oklahoma leading by five points, Gordon got West Virginia to within three points with a basket that was answered by a three-point play by Rashard Odomes, extending Oklahoma’s lead to six points.

West Virginia managed to tie the game up at 47-all after Jordan McCabe made his second three-pointer of the game and a layup from Matthews. This was part of an 8-0 run for the Mountaineers that helped the team regain the lead at 50-47 after McCabe connected on another three-pointer.

After a pair of Doolittle free throws cut Oklahoma’s deficit down to a point, McCabe sunk his fourth three-pointer of the night to extend West Virginia’s lead up to four points.

The Sooners hit two more free throws to make it a two-point game again. After a basket from Haley, a three-pointer from Aaron Calixte later on made it a one-point game in favor of the Mountaineers. This basket ended a six-minute-plus field goal drought for Oklahoma.

West Virginia answered right with a three-pointer from West which was followed by a goaltend call on Oklahoma which counted a jump shot from Routt.

More back-and-forth action ensued as West Virginia held a 66-63 lead over the Sooners with 4:01 remaining after a layup from Haley.

A couple of free throws from Manek again made it a one-point game in favor of West Virginia, but that was extended to three with a layup from Derek Culver.

The two teams continued to exchange baskets as the Mountaineers again led by just a point after two more free throws from Doolittle.

Culver added a basket to make it a three-point game at 72-69 with less than a minute remaining. After Oklahoma missed the game-tying shot, the Mountaineers were unable to ice the game as Haley missed a free throw.

James then made what would've been the game-tying three-pointer at the buzzer, but after review, his foot was just over the line, resulting in the shot counting for only two points. This then sealed the one-point upset win for West Virginia.

The Mountaineers will move on to face the No. 2 seed Texas Tech tomorrow at 7 p.m. ET.

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