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West Virginia walks away from rock fight with win at Oklahoma State

STILLWATER, Okla. — Oklahoma State’s Gallagher-Iba Arena was built in 1938.

On Monday night, it felt like the host Cowboys and West Virginia were intent on setting the game back to that era.

But ugly suited the 17h-ranked Mountaineers better than it did the hosts as WVU slugged out a 55-41 win that will not be featured in any reputable highlight reels.

The teams combined to commit nearly four times as many turnovers (39) as assists (11). West Virginia shot 60 percent or worse at the free-throw line for the fourth straight game. Oklahoma State was a ghastly 1-for-20 from three-point range, and 29.2 percent from the field overall.

It was impossible to sugarcoat. So Bob Huggins didn’t bother trying.

“I don’t know about from where you were, but that was hard for me to watch at some times,” Huggins said. “Neither one of us played one of our better games.”

The Mountaineers (12-2, 1-1 Big 12) had enough flashes of good to snap a three-game losing streak against the Cowboys (9-5, 0-2). The 41 points were the fewest allowed by West Virginia in a road game since a 44-41 win at Temple on March 9, 1992.

With his own offense in first-half rut, Huggins turned to Door No. 4 at point guard.

West Virginia guard Jermaine Haley (10) dribbles while defended by Oklahoma State Cowboys guard Isaac Likekele (13) during the second half at Gallagher-Iba Arena.

6-foot-7 forward Jermaine Haley reprised a role that he filled many times last season, providing a modicum of stability with Jordan McCabe and Miles McBride on the bench. Both checked back in as shooting guards late in the first half.

“He played the point a lot last year, so he knows what he’s doing,” Huggins said of Haley.

McBride, who had three turnovers, said Haley’s play helped him slow down in the second half.

“As point guards, if we’re going too fast everybody else is,” McBride said. “We have to slow down and really direct everybody where they’re supposed to be and keep everything under control.

“Just having a vet like him who has been playing college ball for four or five years, he’s able to come in and show us how to put a guy on his shoulder and direct the team.”

Haley’s sweetest play was a fast-break give-and-go with Oscar Tshiebwe that was capped off when  Tshiebwe threw down his feed with a thunderous alley-oop that put the Mountaineers up by 16 early in the second half.

West Virginia forward Derek Culver (1) fights for a rebound against Oklahoma State guard Jonathan Laurent (1) during the first half at Gallagher-Iba Arena.

Haley also played solid defense, helping hold Oklahoma State guard Isaac Likekele seven points below his season average. Likekele only attempted two field goals and finished with five points.

“We put Jermaine on him because he’s 6-7 with pretty good feet,” Huggins said.

Oklahoma State missed its first 16 three-point attempts before Lindy Waters finally snapped the skid with 8:19 left in the game. Huggins doesn’t think it was the result of WVU smothering the Cowboys behind the three-point arc, though.

“I think they just missed them,” Huggins said. “They were gonna shoot it. They had a bad night.”

Nine West Virginia steals demonstrated that this game wasn’t just about the Cowboys missing open looks, though.

“I think our defense stepped up and got stops when we needed stops and made defensive plays when we needed to,” McBride said. “I think we can still make large strides in our defensive schemes and game plans.

“The coaches know what they’re doing. They’ve had the nation’s best defense for years. It’s our job to execute what they tell us to do. So I still think we can still go a long way with that.”

Tshiebwe led the Mountaineers with a team-high 12 points to go with eight rebounds. Derek Culver dominated the glass with 12 rebounds and finished with nine points, though a 3-for-10 showing at the free-throw line kept him from a double-double.

McBride had 10 points, including a three at the halftime buzzer that put West Virginia up 28-19 going into the locker room.

“I knew going in up another two or three points would definitely help with our momentum coming out in the second half,” McBride said. “I just made the shot.”

Next up

The Mountaineers return home after a four-game road trip, but that doesn’t necessarily make things easier.

First up at WVU Coliseum in 2020 is defending national runner-up Texas Tech. The 22nd-ranked Red Raiders (10-3, 1-0) have a showdown with No. 4 Baylor on Tuesday night before making the trip to Morgantown for a Saturday night game.





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