10:06am: Talkline with Hoppy Kercheval

Kruger: West Virginia chased OU out if its ‘comfort zone’

Second-ranked Oklahoma scored fewer than 80 points for only the third time this season, nearly bottomed out efficiency-wise and fed 18 turnovers to No. 11 West Virginia’s defense.

So the Sooners needed an unusual recipe to escape with a 70-68 victory Saturday.

“You’re going to have to win games a lot of different ways,” said Oklahoma coach Lon Kruger. “When the game is free-flowing, we can get it out and go, and that’s our comfort zone. When you can’t do that, like against West Virginia, you’ve got to hang in there.”

In its only lower-scoring output this season, Oklahoma whipped Wisconsin 65-48 and shot 42 percent from the floor with just five turnovers. On Saturday, Kruger’s group shot a season-worst 33 percent and needed several contested jumpers to reach that mark.

None of that proved too frustrating for the Sooners, who stroked a season-high 27-of-32 free throws before winning on their final possession. Thanks to a guy who was their last resort offensively.

Tip-in hero Khadeem Lattin made amends for missing a last-second free throw that would have reversed last week’s epic triple-overtime loss at Kansas.

“Yeah, it’s kind of like a redemption for me,” he said.

Hear more about how Oklahoma’s decisive possession unfolded in the postgame interview above.





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