WVU downs Oklahoma 75-73
No. 17/19 West Virginia (18-6, 7-4) completed the regular season sweep of No. 17/18 Oklahoma (16-7, 6-5) by defeating the Sooners by a score of 75-73 inside the Lloyd Noble Center Monday night.
Despite scoring just 25 points in the second half, the Mountaineers rallied late in the second half to earn their second straight win, handing Oklahoma its first home loss of the season.
Sophomore Lamont West led West Virginia with 17 points and fellow sophomore Sagaba Konate achieved his sixth-career double-double, scoring 14 points to along with 11 rebounds.
For Oklahoma, freshman Trae Young led the Sooners with 32 points.
Young scored the first points of the game with a layup, but West Virginia would take an early 7-4 lead with a layup from Konate and a jump shot from junior forward Esa Ahmad.
The Mountaineers though would commit three turnovers within the first five minutes of the game and Oklahoma took advantage, scoring five straight points to take a 9-7 lead at the 15:28 mark in the first half.
Oklahoma would extend its lead to 14-9, but West Virginia would storm back with a 17-2 run that was highlighted by five three-pointers from West which gave the Mountaineers a 26-16 lead with under 10 minutes remaining until halftime.
The Sooners then narrowed West Virginia’s lead to 26-20 with a pair of free throws and a dunk from Jamuni McNeace, but baskets from Carter, Konate and Ahmad extended the Mountaineers’ lead to 32-24 at the 5:11 mark. Oklahoma then put together a run of its own, scoring six straight points which included a three-pointer from Young to cut West Virginia’s lead down to just two points.
From there, the Mountaineers would outscore the Sooners 18-10 in the final four minutes of the first half as Carter’s layup at the buzzer gave West Virginia a 50-40 lead heading into the locker room.
West Virginia hit eight straight field goals to end the half and shot 57 percent from the field and 62 percent from downtown. West led the Mountaineers with 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting from three-point range after one half and Oklahoma's Trae Young scored 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting.
The Mountaineers also held an 18-11 advantage on the boards, but Oklahoma held the edge at the free throw line in the first half, going 11-of-12 from the line as West Virginia didn’t attempt a single free throw in the first 20 minutes.
West Virginia had a slow start to the second half, but still led Oklahoma 50-42 with 15:49 left to play. The two teams were a combined 1-of-19 from the field by the 15:20 mark and the Mountaineers didn’t score their first points of the second half until Carter made a layup with 14:34 left to play.
A 6-0 run from West Virginia would follow and the Mountaineers led 58-47 with 12:39 remaining. The two teams would then trade baskets, but West Virginia still held a 64-57 as the Mountaineers took their final timeout with 9:14 left to play.
West Virginia continued to struggle offensively in the second half, shooting just 5-of-22 from the field at 7:55 mark in the second half, but still led 64-59.
Oklahoma took advantage of West Virginia's second half offensive woes and cut its lead to 66-63 with a layup from Young with 6:23 left. West Virginia was able to extend its lead to 72-65 with a pair of free throws, a jump shot and a dunk from Ahmad.
The two teams would trade baskets near the end of the game, but Oklahoma would come within one point of West Virginia with a layup from Rashard Odomes with 24 seconds left.
Despite this, West Virginia would seal the win with a free throw from Ahmad and a late defensive stand.
The Mountaineers will return to the Coliseum Saturday to face Oklahoma State for a noon tipoff.
