But coach Bob Huggins wasn’t in a mood to put a historical spin on No. 11 West Virginia’s 74-63 win over top-ranked Kansas on Tuesday night. Oklahoma, which has never lost to West Virginia in Norman, turned over the ball 18 times – the fewest in the past three games despite playing the nation’s top turnover-producing team.
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“His game has grown a lot”, Huggins said. In Oklahoma’s biggest game since its triple-overtime thriller against Kansas, Buddy Hield was not exactly the same guard that dropped 46 points.
The last time Oklahoma was No. 1 in the AP was 1990.
In 1989, Kansas was unranked when it pulled off the feat in the regular season, defeating No. 2 LSU and No. 1 UNLV. They got us off our game. “The leadership of this group, the senior group, Jordan and those guys know that whatever is today is OK, but it’s nothing in terms of what we have to keep doing in Big 12 play in terms of getting better to keep challenging the opposition that lies ahead”.
With his 780th career win, Huggins passed Lou Henson for 11th place all-time.
Oklahoma plays at No. 17 Iowa State on Monday. If the Sooners can win this game they will likely be the number one team next week.
Oklahoma now ranks second nationally in 3-point field goal percentage (.461) by hitting 160-347 of its shots from downtown this season.
West Virginia misses history: The Mountaineers had a chance to join a short list of teams that managed to secure back-to-back wins against the No. 1 and No. 2 squads in the country.
Jaysean Paige, the one truly consistent force in the backcourt for West Virginia in Big 12 play so far, once again led the way with 18 points.
West Virginia also struggled mightily from the free throw line, shooting just 59-percent on 22 attempts. The Mountaineers hound and bump and pound and bother the bejeezus out of anyone who likes rebounding the ball as much as Lattin does.
“It takes a tough group to battle West Virginia on the boards”, Sooner coach Lon Kruger said.
Hield is shooting 52.4% from the field, 51.8% from beyond the arc, and 90.1% from the free-throw line, maintaining this efficiency despite a 31.1% usage rate. The conclusion did indeed avoid Hield when Woodard’s shot went up, though a little higher than he wanted when WVU’s Devin Williams slid over to help Carter. The Mountaineers ripped off 11-0, including a four point possession thanks to a flagrant 1 foul against Isaiah Cousins at the 15:11 mark, to open up a seven point margin.
With the Sooners leading 64-58 with about four and a half minutes left in the game, the Mountaineers made one last charge, tying the game at 68 on two free throws by Jonathan Holton.
Woodard grabbed an offensive rebound to set up Hield for a 3-pointer that gave the Sooners a 34-32 lead late in the first half. With the game at its most intense point and WVU embracing the momentum, Hield was called for traveling as he was aggressively double-teamed.
West Virginia: Missed its first five shots and didn’t score for the first 3:38…. That doesn’t help us. “It’s a hell of a lot easier to get second-chance points when he’s not on the floor”. Frank Mason III, whose contingent of family members from Petersburg, Virginia, arrived at the arena with eight minutes left in the first half because of treacherous roads in Morgantown, committed seven turnovers against two assists.
Freshman Luke Kennard had 30 points and Brandon Ingram added 25 for Duke (14-4, 3-2), who have lost two straight for the first time this season. “You can’t shoot 50-some percent from the free-throw line”. Williams worked through foul trouble in both halves.
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Bria Holmes has been a super hero for West Virginia’s basketball team the last three years.
