Two stripped-down rosters. Two teams languishing at the bottom of the conference. Yet whenever Derek Culver and Yor Anei scrapped in the lane Saturday, both programs could dream of wait-until-next-year.
“I think you saw a battle of the future of our league,” said Oklahoma State coach Mike Boynton.
Despite Culver producing 16 points and 21 rebounds, Anei’s 16 points and eight blocks proved just as pivotal to the Cowboys winning the regular-season finale 85-77 in Stillwater, Okla.
The 6-foot-10 Anei set a Cowboys freshman single-game record for blocks.
“We had probably 12 points that he took away from us,” said West Virginia coach Bob Huggins. “The difference in the game was their shot-blocker. He did a great job protecting the rim.”
Down 53-41 early in the second half, the Mountaineers (12-19, 4-14) clawed back to deadlock the game at 66-66. Ultimately, their late-game defense wasn’t steady enough, and Huggins — drawing an untimely technical — wasn’t poised enough to prevent falling to 0-9 on the road this season.
West Virginia will be seeded last when the 10-team Big 12 tournament opens Wednesday night in Kansas City.
Oklahoma State (12-19, 5-13) moved up to the No. 9 seed, thanks to 19 points from Lindy Waters, 15 from Thomas Dziagwa and steady ballhandling that resulted in only five turnovers.
With an announced crowd of 7,279 on hand at Gallagher-Iba Arena, Boynton grabbed the scorer’s table microphone to offer a postgame thank you.
“This hasn’t been what was expected, and I don’t want them to come to expect this,” he said. “But I appreciate the fans showing up, and one of these days we will turn the corner.”
Culver played 35 turnover-free minutes, made one steal and delivered two assists — one on a nifty spin move in the paint before kicking out to Lamont West for a corner 3.
Culver’s only glaring mistake? Missing an uncontested layup off a pick-and-roll dish by Jordan McCabe with 50 seconds left and West Virginia trailing 83-77.
McCabe finished with five assists and 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting from 3. He committed four of the Mountaineers’ 12 turnovers.
Jermaine Haley had 16 points and seven rebounds, while West made 5-of-11 from deep to score 16.
Saturday’s final score replicated that of the Cowboys’ win in Morgantown on Jan. 19. Esa Ahmad and Wes Harris were benched that day, serving one-game suspensions that precipated their dismissals weeks later.
Huggins only went seven deep this time, if you ignore cameos by Logan Routt and Andrew Gordon. Oklahoma State essentially used a six-man rotation.
Anei’s spectacular defense featured a swat-from-behind on Chase Harler’s layup attempt. That flipped the court and led to Dziagwa’s transition 3 for a 64-57 cushion.
Oklahoma State led 72-70 when Anei blocked McCabe’s foul-line jumper. As the Mountaineers guard went to the floor, the Cowboys raced downcourt for Anei’s dunk. Huggins barked at Ray Natilli, drawing a technical that led to two more free throws by Dziagwa, and OSU stretched its lead with a 9-2 run.
“I guess two of them are my fault but I couldn’t take it anymore,” Huggins said. “We get tripped and knocked down and it’s not a foul. My fault. I probably should’ve shown better restraint.”