Macon-Main-11716.jpg
Lattin's Tip Downs West Virginia
January 16, 2016 06:57 PM | Men's Basketball
Khadeem Lattin’s tip-in basket with 2.8 seconds left lifted second-ranked Oklahoma to a 70-68 victory over No. 11 West Virginia at Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Oklahoma this afternoon.
The Mountaineers, looking to become the first team since Kansas in 2008 to knock off No. 1 and No. 2 in consecutive games, fought back from seven points down with 4:33 left to tie it with 26 seconds remaining on a pair of Jonathan Holton free throws.
Following an Oklahoma timeout, the Sooners’ Jordan Woodard attempted a contested jumper from outside the key and the ball hit off the back of the rim where Lattin was able to jump over Holton to tip in the winning shot.
“I just remember seeing Jordan attack the paint and West Virginia’s big guys backed off me to cover him. Ryan (Spangler) also blocked his man out and gave me a lane to attack the rim," said Lattin. "Then I saw the ball bounce so I just went up and got the tip-in. It was nice.”
“That’s what happens when you let them (Oklahoma) penetrate," added West Virginia coach Bob Huggins. "Penetration draws help, and any time you help that puts the opposing player underneath and gives them the offensive rebound advantage. We didn’t do a good enough job containing the ball."
After Lattin's basket, WVU had the ball with 2.8 seconds left but Devin Williams’ inbounds pass to Jevon Carter was tipped out of bounds by Buddy Hield, leaving just 0.9 seconds left on the clock and forcing Carter to attempt a length-of-the-floor throw that missed everything as the horn sounded.
"It could have gone either way, obviously. I feel great about coming out on top," said Oklahoma coach Lon Kruger.
After the Sooners scored the first seven points of the game, West Virginia recovered to take an 18-13 lead midway through the first half on a Daxter Miles Jr. layup. But Oklahoma made up the difference from the free throw line where the Sooners hit 12 during one stretch in the first half to tie the game at 34 by halftime.
OU scored the first five points of the second half before Nathan Adrian answered with a three, and after an Isaiah Cousins jumper, West Virginia went on an 11-0 run to take its biggest lead of the game, 49-41, with 13:49 remaining.
Then Buddy Hield, who scored 17 – nine below his season average – was fouled by Miles Jr. while attempting a wild 3-point shot as the shot clock was winding down. He was awarded three free throws on the play, making all three, to reduce West Virginia’s lead to four.
More Sooner free throws followed from Dante Buford to set up a big sequence with 9:36 remaining. Lattin hit a short jumper in the lane to make it a one-point game, 51-50 in West Virginia’s favor, and Adrian was called for a foul underneath the basket attempting to box out Ryan Spangler.
Because OU was already in the double bonus, Spangler was awarded two free throws and he hit both, turning it into a four-point possession for Oklahoma.
Jordan Woodard then turned a Miles Jr. turnover into three more points from behind the arc at the other end to give Oklahoma a 55-51 lead. The Sooners eventually got it to seven on more free throws, these coming from Cousins, Spangler, and finally, from Lattin with 4:32 remaining.
Elijah Macon stopped the run with a short jumper with 4:10 remaining.
With Oklahoma leading by five, 66-61, the two teams traded baskets, Devin Williams tipping in Tarik Phillip’s miss and Woodard hitting a jumper at the other end for OU.
Then Jaysean Paige’s three from the wing pulled West Virginia to within two, 68-66, at 1:46 and then Holton tied it with 26 seconds remaining.
Elijah Macon grabs a rebound in the first half of today's game against Oklahoma. The second-ranked Sooners defeated the Mountaineers 70-68 (Oklahoma athletics photo).
Today’s game basically came down to a free throw shooting contest – the Sooners making theirs (27 of 32) while the Mountaineers missing some critical ones (13 of 22), particularly in the second half.
Oklahoma also had a two-rebound advantage on the glass with Spangler pulling down 14, but some of that can be attributed to the time Williams spent on the bench in foul trouble. West Virginia’s best player saw just 15 minutes of court time and finished the game with five points and six rebounds.
Paige was the only Mountaineer player to reach double figures, scoring 18 points off the bench on six-of-10 shooting.
In addition to Hield’s 17, Woodard scored 13 and Spangler contributed 10. The Sooners shot just 33.3 percent for the game (18 of 54) and committed 18 turnovers.
“We play hard, and we try and we compete. They are good guys that want to win and try to win. We’ve just got to somehow start making free throws,” said Huggins.
Nevertheless, Oklahoma is poised to make the jump to No. 1 in the polls next week when the new rankings come out after West Virginia’s victory over No. 1 Kansas in Morgantown earlier this week.
A win today at Oklahoma (15-1, 4-1) would have put West Virginia, now 15-2, 4-1, two games up on the Sooners in the Big 12 standings. The league standings show four teams – West Virginia, Oklahoma, Kansas and Baylor – at the top with 4-1 records.
West Virginia and Oklahoma play again in Morgantown on Saturday, February 20. That game has already been announced a sellout.
West Virginia returns to action on Wednesday night at the Coliseum against Texas. That game will tip off at 7 p.m. and will be televised nationally on ESPNU.
Ross Hodge, Honor Huff & Brenen Lorient | Oklahoma Postgame
Sunday, April 05
Ross Hodge, Treysen Eaglestaff & Brenen Lorient | Creighton Postgame
Saturday, April 04
Ross Hodge & Honor Huff | Stanford Postgame
Thursday, April 02
Ross Hodge | College Basketball Crown Preview
Monday, March 30
