WVU downed by Oklahoma State, 85-77

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West Virginia (8-8, 0-4) dropped its fourth straight game Saturday afternoon, falling to Oklahoma State (8-8, 2-2) by a score of 85-77 in Morgantown.

The Mountaineers hung around throughout most of the game despite trailing by double-digits at times during the contest, but the team continued to struggle defensively which led to them remaining winless in conference play.

James "Beetle" Bolden led West Virginia with a career-high 31 points as Jermaine Haley (10), Lamont West (13) and Derek Culver (15) all finished in double figures. The Cowboys were led by Isaac Likekele's 23 points.

West Virginia scored the first points of the game from the free throw line but Oklahoma State rallied with five straight to take the early edge in the contest. Culver was the first player off the bench for the Mountaineers but they started 0-of-5 from the floor as they struggled in the first four minutes.

The Mountaineers rallied some to even the game at 9-all just outside the 12-minute mark as the freshman Trey Doomes made his first appearance with an assist on his first possession.

West Virginia then seized the lead on a basket by Culver at 12-9 as Huggins used a lineup consisting of four true freshmen--true to his word on comments made coming into the game.

The two teams went back-and-forth for most of the rest of the first half until Oklahoma State went on a 5-0 run with all points coming from Cameron McGriff. This run helped the Cowboys take a 28-22 lead with 3:17 remaining in the first half.

Three-pointers from Maurice Calloo and Curtis Jones extended Oklahoma State’s lead to 10 points later on and the Cowboys would end up taking a 39-28 lead over the Mountaineers at halftime.

Despite trailing at halftime, West Virginia was a perfect 11-for-11 at the free throw line but finished the half shooting just 25 percent from the line to Oklahoma State’s 46 percent.

West scored five straight points to open the second half as West Virginia outscored Oklahoma State, 16-9, less than seven minutes into the half. With 14:01 remaining, the Mountaineers trailed the Cowboys by just four points at 48-44.

West Virginia then cut its deficit to just two with a pair of free throws from Bolden, but four consecutive free throws from Likekele gave Oklahoma State a seven-point lead.

The Mountaineers answered and made it a five-point game later on with a layup from Bolden, but again, the Cowboys would add some cushion their lead with a 6-0 run to extend their lead to 66-55 with 8:18 left to play.

Bolden added a jumper, pair of free throws and layup to bring the Mountaineers within seven points of Oklahoma State, but the Cowboys continued to answer and went ahead by 11 points with two free throws from Lindy Waters, a layup from Calloo and and a jump shot from McGriff.

From there, West Virginia was unable to rally back and dropped its fourth straight game.

The Mountaineers will hit the road again Tuesday to face TCU at 7 p.m. ET.

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