FINAL: No. 23 Sooners surge past WVU, 72-62

West Virginia guard Eron Harris scored only five points—13 below his season average—and the Mountaineers fell 72-62 at No. 23 Oklahoma.

 

NORMAN, Okla. — It was Fan Appreciation Night at Lloyd Noble Center, which meant free admission for students in hopes of a somewhat spirited sendoff for No. 23 Oklahoma’s seniors. West Virginia would have appreciate a win in the worst way, seeing as how it still harbored dreams of a first-round bye at the Big 12 tournament and, maybe just maybe, an NCAA berth.

But those at-large dreams were officially buried by a 72-62 loss. West Virginia (16-14, 8-9) must win the conference tourney to go dancing, and it likely must win four games in four days to do it. Meanwhile, Oklahoma (22-8, 11-6) could be climbing toward a second-place finish in the league.

A recap of updates from throughout the game:

OKLAHOMA 72, WEST VIRGINIA 62 (Final)
One statistical note: The four made free throws Wednesday night were the fewest for West Virginia in more than two years, dating back to a 55-51 home loss to Notre Dame on Feb. 8, 2012. (That night the Mountaineers went 1-of-3.)
OKLAHOMA 72, WEST VIRGINIA 62 (Final)
Eron Harris fouled out after a 2-of-9 shooting night and only five points. The Sooners were committed to holding him down after his 28-point outburst in Morgantown, but remember that Oklahoma had to defend an active Terry Henderson in that first meeting. … Staten finishes with 24 points and Devin Williams has a 12-point, 13-rebound double-double. … Gary Browne was 5-of-7 for 12 points and grabbed five rebounds, a solid effort off the bench, but it wasn’t enough to make up for Harris, Remi Dibo and Nate Adrian shooting 3-of-17. … Cameron Clark had 19 points and 10 rebounds, while Buddy Heild scored 13 and Je’lon Hornbeak chipped in 11.
OKLAHOMA 63, WEST VIRGINIA 52 (4:00 second half)
The Sooners seized control with a 23-7 run, and West Virginia looks disheveled on offense and slow-footed on the defensive end. In god news for the Mountaineers, Staten ended the free-throw drought with a pair at the 4-minute mark. WVU is now 2-of-8, while Oklahoma is 11-of-14.
OKLAHOMA 59, WEST VIRGINIA 50 (6:03 second half)
Staten goes to the line with 6:31 and shorts the front end of a one-and-one. (WVU now 0-of-6). On the other end, Hield hits another 3 as Harris goes underneath a screen. Hield has 12 of his 13 points in this half… Noreen commits his fifth foul, bumping Clark on a 16-foot jumper that went down as part of an and-one.
OKLAHOMA 53, WEST VIRGINIA 47 (7:52 second half)
For perhaps the first time all season, Juwan Staten looks completely gassed. He went end-to-end for a layup and his 22nd point, but he was dragging on the next offensive possession and essentially begging for Harris to come get the ball. When Harris did so, he traveled for the third time this half. … Coming out of the timeout, Staten is on the bench. Let’s see how WVU attacks without its point guard.
OKLAHOMA 50, WEST VIRGINIA 45 (9:09 second half)
The Sooners countered with a 10-2 run, including two 3-pointers by a wide-open Hield. The guard had missed his first seven shots of the night before those went down. … And speaking of missed shots, West Virginia is 0-of-5 from the free-throw line after Williams clanked an and-one opportunity.
WEST VIRGINIA 43, OKLAHOMA 40 (11:37 second half)
Harris stops and pops in transition for a 3 at the 12:58 mark—his first points of the night. Unbelievably, that gives West Virginia a 41-40 lead. A possession later Harris slips a nice pass inside to Noreen for a layup, and that makes nine unanswered for the Mountaineers. … WVU leads despite being 0-of-4 from the foul line tonight. But Oklahoma’s 6-of-23 shooting from 3-point range doesn’t figure to stay so cool.
OKLAHOMA 38, WEST VIRGINIA 34 (15:26 second half)
WVU attempted its first free throws of the game at 19:07 mark, though Devin Williams missed them both. The Sooners, who hadn’t scored since the 2:29 mark of the first half, get a 3 from Frank Booker to end the five-minute drought. … Harris is in the mother of all funks. He;s still scoreless and has committed two traveling violations since the break, He’s trying to get it going, but he’s playing too fast and out of control.
OKLAHOMA 33, WEST VIRGINIA 28 (halftime)
Staten produced an Odyssey Sims-style 16-point half, and he had to do so with WVU hurting offensively. While its point guard made 8-of-15 shots, the rest of West Virginia’s team went 5-of-20. If there’s a positive for Bob Huggins, it’s that his squad is in a two-possession game despite Harris going 0-for-3. … Both teams shot 37 percent in the half, while OU leads 23-18 in rebounds. … Clarke has 10 points, while Jordan Woodard and Je’lon Hornbeak scored seven each for the Sooners.
OKLAHOMA 33, WEST VIRGINIA 28 (halftime)
The Sooners went on a 13-2 run to lead 33-22 before Staten hit two jumpers and made a buzzer-beating layup off a slick inbounds play. During the closing stretch, Kevin Noreen and Browne also drew back-to-back charges against OU’s Tyler Neal. (The Sooners guard protested because those were not the kind of calls that have favored defensive players this year.)
OKLAHOMA 28, WEST VIRGINIA 22 (3:34 first half)
Clark buries a 3 and has 10 points as OU tries to separate. Staten has missed his last five shots and uncharacteristically committed two turnovers in the span of four possessions, though these were of the forced variety, with Buddy Hield knocking the ball away. WVU has yet to attempt a free throw, and probably deserved two as Staten was fouled going to the basket. (One official ruled it a shooting foul, but was overruled.)
OKLAHOMA 20, WEST VIRGINIA 20 (7:27 first half)
With Harris in foul trouble, Staten can’t do it all. Luckily for WVU, Connor and Gray Browne buried 3-pointers to knot up the game. … Oklahoma has attempted 10 3-point shots so far but is only making 33 percent overall.
OKLAHOMA 14, WEST VIRGINIA 12 (11:11 first half)
Juwan Staten is on fire (5-of-5 for 10 points), but Eron Harris is on the bench, having picked up his second foul at the 12:28 mark. Into the game came walk-on Chase Connor, the freshman who had zero points this season before draining three straight 3-pointers against TCU.
OKLAHOMA 10, WEST VIRGINIA 8 (15:03 first half)
Cameron Clark hit his first three shots, including a 3, and starting much faster than he did in Morgantwn. Nathan Adrian picked up two early fouls, while Oklahoma had no fouls until the 13:37 mark.






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