FINAL: No. 11 Cowboys edge WVU 73-72

West Virginia coach Bob Huggins repeated his “We’re close” mantra after the Mountaineers fell 73-72 to No. 11 Oklahoma State.

 

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Join Allan Taylor for live updates from throughout Saturday afternoon’s Oklahoma State-West Virginia game at the WVU Coliseum:

OKLAHOMA STATE 73, WEST VIRGINIA 72 (final)
Smart ended with 22 points, 13 rebounds and five assists, while Nash had 18 points and Brown 12. West Virginia got 21 points and eight rebounds from Staten, 20 from Henderson, 12 from Williams and 11 from a mostly ineffective Harris. WVU falls to 10-6 overall and 2-1 in the league, missing another chance to make hay against a future NCAA tourney team. OSU improves to 14-2 and 2-1.
OKLAHOMA STATE 73, WEST VIRGINIA 72 (final)
Henderson’s 3 gave WVU a 72-70 lead, but Markel Brown answered with a 3 for Oklahoma State with 11.6 seconds left. CLUTCH! … West Virginia’s final possession boiled down to Staten penetrating and trying a difficult layup. After a scrum in the lane, OSU came out with the rebound and Nash was fouled with 0.6 seconds left.
OKLAHOMA STATE 68, WEST VIRGINIA 67 (3:55 second half)
The Cowboys had a five-point edge after Smart was left open for a 3 against WVU’s zone. But Henderson countered with a 3—benefiting from a shooter’s bounce—and Staten raced downcourt for an acrobatic left-handed layup to tie the game at 67-all. WVU had been in a 2-of-12 shooting funk.
OKLAHOMA STATE 62, WEST VIRGINIA 57 (7:48 second half)
With Smart on the bench, Oklahoma State goes on a 9-2 run—a crucial stretch indeed. West Virginia committed two silly turnovers during the run, one on a sloppy pass by Brandon Watkins, and the other on a baseline exchange between Williams and Brown after an OSU basket.
OKLAHOMA STATE 54, WEST VIRGINIA 52 (10:58 second half)
Henderson isn’t known for his defense, but he swatted shots by Nash and Brown to bring the crowd back to life—and in between he sank a 3 to cap a 7-0 run that restored WVU to a 50-47 lead. Alas, Oklahoma State countered with a 7-2 run culminating in Forte’s 3 in transition. … POTENTIALLY BIG HAPPENING: Smart picked up his third foul at the 12:19 mark and checked out. (He has 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting.) We could be headed for an enthralling finish.
OKLAHOMA STATE 47, WEST VIRGINIA 45 (15:40 second half)
Smart’s 3-pointer from the wing gives the Cowboys their first lead of the game, 46-43. After a Nash free throw, the lead grew to four points. Harris ends West Virginia’s string of six consecutive missed shots with a twisting runner in the lane between Smart and Brown.
WEST VIRGINIA 41, OKLAHOMA STATE 39 (halftime)
Both teams are shooting 45 percent from the floor, and WVU owns a 21-19 edge in rebounding. The Cowboys are 4-of-10 from 3-point range, while WVU is 5-of-13. As anticipated, OSU has gotten to the line more: 7-of-9 for the visitors to 2-of-2 for WVU. … Oklahoma State is led by Smart’s 12 points and seven rebounds, while Le’Bryan Nash has scored 9. For WVU, Staten has 12 points, four rebounds and five assists, while Henderson has scored 10. Williams has six points and five rebounds.
WEST VIRGINIA 41, OKLAHOMA STATE 39 (halftime)
Forte launches a running 3 in transition that ties it at 39-all with 1:02 left. After Henderson hurried a 3 attempting to answer, OSU couldn’t convert and WVU called timeout with 16 seconds left to stage its final shot of the half. Huggins’ design works perfectly as Devin Williams scores on a low-post basket (yes, they still have those in West Virginia) with 2 seconds left.
WEST VIRGINIA 39, OKLAHOMA STATE 35 (1:29 first half)
Harris picked up his second foul, a foolish one defending Brown in the backcourt. Now West Virginia might rue the first foul Harris picked up early in the half—a questionable touch foul. Harris has five points on 2-of-6 shooting so far, and WVU shooting 46 percent overall. The rebounding is starting to tighten up as expected, with WVU now up 20-17.
WEST VIRGINIA 37, OKLAHOMA STATE 30 (3:22 first half)
Staten and Henderson in double figures and WVU 5-of-10 from 3-point range, but those nine offensive rebounds are looming large for West Virginia. In an effort to slow down WVU’s attack, Ford has deployed a halfcourt trap a few times. So far the Mountaineers have handled it. … And Remi Dibo has returned from his flu-induced exile with two 3-pointers as well.
WEST VIRGINIA 29, OKLAHOMA STATE 24 (7:55 first half)
Immediately out of the second media timeout, Oklahoma State nails back-to-back 3s (Stevie Clarke and Forte). But Terry Henderson and Harris answer with 3s of their own. Henderson is looking super aggressive so far on 4-of-7 shooting and four assists. … Not to be overlooked: WVU leads 15-9 in rebounding.
WEST VIRGINIA 17, OKLAHOMA STATE 12 (11:54 first half)
With eight points on 3-of-3 shooting, Juwan Staten is more than holding his own against Smart. He beat the All-American via backcut for a layup and then stole the ball as Smart received instruction from coach Travis Ford. Smart has five points to lead OSU, which is 0-of-5 from 3-point range, including three wide-open misses by Phil Forte.
PREGAME NOTES
Oklahoma State, blessed with several athletic slashers, has taken a league-high 472 free throws this season. In the same amount of games, West Virginia has attempted 340 (third-fewest in the Big 12). Marcus Smart’s 77 made foul shots lead the league, while Markel Brown is third with 73 makes. (WVU’s Juwan Staten is second with 74). The Cowboys shoot 71 percent overall from the line and WVU makes 69 percent.
PREGAME NOTES
Bob Huggins on Oklahoma State’s band of thoroughbreds: “They’re the most athletic team we’ve played to this point and we’ve got to keep them out of transition. And the best way to keep them out of transition is score. We can’t bang (shots) off the front of the rim, because that’s an outlet pass and they’re off to the races.”
PREGAME NOTES
This will be the Cowboys’ third game without power forward Michael Cobbins, who was sidelined for the rest of the season by the dreaded ruptured Achilles. In two wins over WVU last season, Cobbins averaged 8.5 points, 8 rebounds and 2.5 blocks. “He was their rim protector,” said Huggins, but the rest of the OSU defense can pick up the slack. “Smart’s made some eye-popping blocks,” Huggins said.
PREGAME NOTES
Eron Harris has reached double figures scoring in 14 of 15 games this season. (His eight-point outing at Missouri, when he played only 19 minutes, was the exception.) … WVU figures to need a man-sized effort from freshman Devin Williams, who’s averaging 9.9 points and 7.7 rebounds. He’ll team up with Brandon Watkins, who had one block in his first nine games before swatting 10 in his last five games.






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