COMMENTARY
The toll from playing 39 minutes was more evident than usual on everybody’s All-American Buddy Hield, because every one of those 39 minutes involved working against West Virginia defenders with no let-up.
So after the long arms of Khadeem Lattin prevented Saturday’s game from stretching on any longer, a happy Hield raced to throw his arms around the unheralded sophomore.
“He saved us an extra 5 minutes of going against that tough West Virginia press,” Hield said. “Guys didn’t like going against that.”
Lattin’s last-second tip-in proved soon-to-be No. 1 Oklahoma can win without Hield being a monster. The takeaway from a 70-68 loss was equally rich for soon-to-be-top 10 West Virginia:
A Big 12 banner could be coming to the WVU Coliseum.
Provided the Mountaineers make a few more free throws, that is.
The ninth-best foul shooting unit in a 10-team league didn’t live up to even its typically shoddy 66-percent season average. Had West Virginia done so, it would have left Lloyd Noble with stirring back-to-back victories over the top two teams in the nation.
Instead Bob Huggins stewed from his stool over 13-of-22 foul shooting.
“We shoot 59 percent at the free-throw line,” he said, “and that’s 100-percent the game right there.”
Well, there were other contributing factors, such as Oklahoma being grittier on the boards than it is accustomed. West Virginia, which typically dominates second-chance scoring, trailed 19-7 in that category. Huggins ID’d Devin Williams’ foul trouble as a root cause.
“Devin is probably a first-team all-league guy—if he can play,” Huggins said. “We want to sit here and talk about their second-chance points, but it’s a hell of a lot easier to get second-chance points when he’s not on the floor. And he was only on the floor for 15 minutes.”
Whether Huggins primarily blamed the officials or Williams wasn’t obvious, though 34 years of precedent suggests the coach didn’t agree with all four fouls assessed his best big man. From here, the most debatable was a first-half charge in which a harmless looking low-post turn by Williams knocked 6-foot-8, 235-pound Ryan Spangler clear to Muskogee.
Still, the final 27-20 foul disparity seemed in line with the cost of Press Virginia doing business, and despite it, tis game became a last-possession doozy after the visitors cooly climbed out of a seven-point hole over the final 4:11.
It helped that WVU’s ball-denial transformed Hield from superstar to decoy. Buddy Buckets’ had zero buckets over the final 7 minutes, and his last one required NBA-type work—a dribble-drive step-back 16-footer over the helpless Tarik Phillip. (Of which the WVU side might claim Phillip was rendered more helpless by Hield’s pushoff.)
Pestered when he possessed the ball, Hield committed a reasonable three turnovers. Of course, even catching the ball was rare for a standout who normally puts up more than 17 shots per night. This time he hoisted only 11, his fewest in the past 22 games.
Tight-checking Hield, and keeping his teammates even more uncomfortable, brought this game to the brink of OT. Though West Virginia failed to seize control of the conference race, it validated every suspicion of its legitimacy.
“This is what we’ve been asking for,” said Jaysean Paige, who scored 18 points and led WVU with a plus/minus of 16. “We’ve been feeling like we’re one of the better teams in the country. Playing against 1 and 2 was a good look for us. We had our chance.”
There will come another chance Feb. 20, on the back half of the round-robin—and two halves may not be enough.