MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — That coast-to-coast dagger Jordan Woodard drove into West Virginia’s chest, the overtime bucket that threatened to turn around Oklahoma’s season, has done anything but.
Since their 89-87 upset on Jan. 18 the Sooners have dropped five straight games, sinking to the basement of the Big 12. A chance to pull off the spoiler sweep against No. 13 West Virginia might be the strong enough motivator to make Wednesday night’s rematch interesting.
Woodard scored 20 points, 18 after halftime, during the first meeting to highlight a well-rounded performance that included five assists, four steals and four rebounds.
He exploited West Virginia’s top two defensive guards in clutch situations. With 3.1 seconds left in regulation, Woodard shook Jevon Carter before making the tying jumper. Then he tore downcourt against a back-pedaling Tarik Philip to hit the game-winner at the end of overtime.
“We didn’t guard him,” said WVU coach Bob Huggins. “We were constantly in retreat-mode, and that’s not our persona.”
Then again, West Virginia (18-5, 6-4) has shown a duplicitous persona all season — beating three teams in this week’s AP top 12 while losing five games to underdogs.
There’s scant hope of dethroning Kansas in the Big 12 race, as a two-game deficit to the Jayhawks with seven games left feels relatively massive. What remains in reach is an NCAA No. 2 seed, which Huggins points out is where the Mountaineers landed during their 2010 run to the Final Four.
Claiming a No. 2 probably requires a 7-1 finish to the regular season — not easy with road games at Kansas and Baylor — followed by a couple wins in the Big 12 tournament. There’s no room for another stumble against the Sooners (8-14, 2-8), who appear assured of their first losing record since Lon Kruger arrived to begin his rebuild in 2011-2012.
Oklahoma, after losing only five home games across Woodard’s first three years, have six losses at Lloyd Noble Center this season. The senior point guard scores a team-best 15.4 per game, though he’s floundering in an 8-for-37 shooting slump. In an 84-52 blowout loss to Florida, Woodard went scoreless for only the third time in 123 college games.
OU needs its floor leader to play like he did in Morgantown.
“Jordan did a great job of working to catch and move,” Kruger said. “But you have to work hard to make all that happen. We cautioned our guys that (the Mountaineers) are going to come in here and be more aggressive and more active, and we have to be more ready to make good things happen.”
West Virginia gets 11.7 points per game from Carter and Esa Ahmad, while glue guy Nate Adrian (10.9 points, 6.4 rebounds, 3 assists) and Phillip (9.6 points, 2.7 rebounds) are seniors who have never won in Norman, Okla.
The Sooners’ supporting cast includes 6-foot-9 Kadeem Lattin (8.2 points, 5.5 rebounds), the tip-in hero of last year’s 70-68 win at Lloyd Noble. Freshman guard Kameron McGusty (10.3 points) scored 17 at West Virginia amid his string of 10 consecutive games in double-figures.
No. 13 West Virginia (18-5, 6-4) at Oklahoma (8-14, 2-8)
Tipoff: Wednesday 9 p.m. Eastern in Norman, Okla. (ESPN2)
RPIs: West Virginia 34, Oklahoma 160
Quoting WVU: “Just to be more assertive, be bouncier.” — Huggins on Esa Ahmad following a zero-point, zero-rebound effort in Saturday’s loss to Oklahoma State.
Line: West Virginia favored by 7
Prediction: West Virginia 80-69