Stevenson sizzles, Mountaineers handle Oklahoma, 93-61

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The significance of Saturday’s game against Oklahoma wasn’t lost on West Virginia, which had dropped seven straight to the Sooners and spoke in advance of needing a win to take another step toward securing a berth in the NCAA Tournament.

Behind perhaps their most complete performance of the season, the Mountaineers did just that.

West Virginia outscored Oklahoma by 22 points over the final 7 minutes of the first half, and the Mountaineers got another memorable performance from guard Erik Stevenson, who scored a game-high 34 points in a 93-61 victory at the WVU Coliseum.

“We finally have realized what we need to do to win in this league,” WVU head coach Bob Huggins said. “Our practices were better. Guys were a lot more focused and they understand we have some work to do.”

The outcome was never in doubt after halftime as West Virginia (14-9, 3-7 Big 12) seized complete control of the contest over the final third of the opening half.

West Virginia used Stevenson’s sizzling shooting to get off to a strong start and led 25-14 less than 8 minutes into the matchup. 

The Sooners (12-11, 2-8) then rattled off eight unanswered points on the strength of two Grant Sherfield triples, and WVU was left with a 27-23 lead when OU’s Jacob Groves split two free throws 7:16 before halftime.

Stevenson, who scored 11 points before the first media timeout, made a pull-up jumper 7 minutes before halftime to up the Mountaineers’ lead to six.

Oklahoma would never recover.

“It’s everything,” Huggins said of Stevenson’s hot early start. “You go out and miss the first three or four, all of a sudden, you’re wondering.”

By the time the Sooners scored again, 5:17 remained in the half and their deficit was 36-25. The aforementioned pull-up jumper from Stevenson was the start of a 9-0 spurt that also featured five straight points from Kedrian Johnson on two free throws and a conventional three-point play and Mohamed Wague’s follow-up basket.

Sherfield’s jump shot stopped the Mountaineers’ momentum, but only for a moment.

With the advantage at 38-26, Stevenson made his fourth triple for a 15-point lead 4:20 before halftime. Seth Wilson followed with a trey and Johnson and Joe Toussaint each cashed in on tripe to the free-throw line, allowing WVU to lead 48-26 at the 3:05 mark.

The onslaught continued over the final few minutes of the half. Wilson hit another 3 for a 25-point margin, and Stevenson added a fifth first-half triple, as well as a layup, to give him 23 points and his team a 56-30 halftime lead.

“He works really hard without the ball,” OU head coach Porter Moser said of Stevenson. “He can shoot off the move. Some guys can’t shoot off the move. He is strong and has extreme confidence. We showed our guys the seven threes he hit against Auburn and how hard he worked on the flex action at TCU. It wasn’t for a lack of not showing our guys. Going in, he was a complete focus. You have to give him a lot of credit, too.”

The Sooners cut their deficit to 64-44 on Joe Bamisile’s dunk less than 7 minutes into the second half. OU then went nearly the next 7 minutes without a field goal, during which time WVU put to rest any thought of a rally by building its biggest lead at 80-46, before Bamisile’s basket with 6:21 remaining.

Bob Huggins postgame press conference 

“They played so hard defensively,” Moser said. “They’re older, physical guys, and we didn’t handle it well.” 

Stevenson made 13-of-23 shots and 6 of 11 from long range. It was his second consecutive 30-plus point performance on a Saturday, having scored 31 in last week’s win over Auburn.

“It’s the same answer I have to give you from Auburn — I have to credit my teammates,” Stevenson said. “They keep instilling confidence in me. It’s a different feeling when your teammates and coaches are telling you to get 40.”

Stevenson came within one point of tying former WVU guard Juwan Staten for the Mountaineers’ single-game scoring leader in Big 12 play. Staten scored 35 back in February 2014 against Kansas State.

“I’ll enjoy it, but I’m not where I want to be yet,” Stevenson said, “and we’re not where we need to be.”

Johnson added 16 points and made all eight of his free throws, keying the Mountaineers’ strong 24 for 31 effort on foul shots. WVU’s point guard had more room to penetrate with the Sooners devoting a bulk of their defensive attention to Stevenson.

“When a team has the hot hand, the opposing team’s main focus is to try and slow him down,” Johnson said. “That’s when other guys have the opportunity to score the ball.”

Having shown significant improvement over the last few weeks, James Okonkwo continued on that path for the Mountaineers and recorded his first career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

“I’m a lot more confident now and getting in the groove more and looking at those open spaces on the court,” Okonkwo said. “My positioning on the court is getting a little bit better.”

Sherfield led the Sooners with 16 points, all but two of which came in the first half.

Bamisile added 11 in defeat. Tanner Groves was limited to two points and held without a field goal in less than 12 minutes of action. Groves picked up two fouls before the game was 2 minutes old and was eventually disqualified with 8:03 remaining when he was whistled for his fifth foul. 

“You try to get their best players in foul trouble,” Huggins said. “We tried to put him in situations that were difficult.”

WVU players postgame press conference 





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