Box Score MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Umoja Gibson's 29 points led Oklahoma to a 75-71 victory over No. 9 West Virginia at the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Oklahoma.
 
Gibson, 6-1 junior guard from Waco, Texas, made 8-of-11 from 3-point range and was 10-of-14 overall from the floor.
 
At one point in the second half, Gibson made three consecutive 3s and a fourth was later ruled a two-pointer when West Virginia was making its furious comeback.
 
The Mountaineers (8-3, 1-2) dug themselves a deep hole in the first half by hitting just 7 of their 30 field goal attempts. Freshman Jalen Bridges, making his first career start in place of the departed Oscar Tshiebwe, was the only West Virginia player who could consistently score, tallying 11 of his season-high 19 points in the first half.
 
"We've come to come out and play with energy and enthusiasm at the beginning and we didn't," West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said. 
 
West Virginia used a smaller lineup consisting of guards Deuce McBride, Taz Sherman and Sean McNeil to make 9-of-14 from 3 in the second half, including a Sherman triple to tie the game at 49.
 
The two teams traded 3s until Gibson's 3 from the corner with 5:43 to go gave the Sooners a 60-55 advantage. A Sherman 3 and a Bridges basket tied the game at 60 before Austin Reaves answered with a jumper in the lane.
 
A key sequence in the game happened with four minutes to go and the Sooners leading 62-60. Two missed Sooner 3s were rebounded by Brady Manek, and a third offensive possession ended with a Reeves 3 to make it a five-point game with 3:41 to go. 
 
The OU lead swelled to seven on a Gibson free throw.
 
Two Emmitt Matthews Jr. free throws made it a one-possession game, 71-68, with 32 seconds to go. Then a Bridges basket with a second left got it to down to two before a pair of Jalen Hill free throws provided the winning margin. 
 
In addition to its 23 first-half misses, West Virginia also committed 12 of its 14 turnovers.
 
Sherman also finished with 19 points (all of them in the second half),  Deuce McBride added 15 and Matthews contributed 11. 
 
"I thought Taz played really, really well – made some hard shots," Huggins said.
 
A bright spot was the play of Bridges, who made 7-of-9 from the floor including 5-of-6 from 3, with three rebounds and an assist. That's a good starting point for the Fairmont resident moving forward.
 "I thought J.B. was good," Huggins said.
 
Derek Culver, who struggled in his two games against Oklahoma last year, had another tough afternoon today with just two points and six rebounds while committing seven turnovers – most of those a result of Oklahoma double teams.
 
"We've got to do a better job of getting Derek to get the ball out of double teams, because he's going to get double-teamed the rest of the year," Huggins said.
 
"We didn't get what we normally get out of Derek, that was Derek's worst game of the year," Huggins added.
 
Reaves scored 13 and De'Vion Harmon scored 10 for Oklahoma, now 6-2, 2-1.
 
Neither team shot the ball particularly well overall, Oklahoma at 42% and West Virginia at 40%., but the Sooners got them to fall when they needed them to.
 
"I thought we did a pretty good job on Reaves and Manek and then we let a guy who transfers in from North Texas get 29 on us," Huggins said. "We didn't guard him."
 
The Sooners had a 41-36 advantage on the glass and had a 39-19 edge in bench points.
 
West Virginia hasn't won in Norman since 2018, and is now 2-7 all-time at the Noble Center.
 
The Mountaineers have a quick turnaround with a Monday night game at Oklahoma State. The Cowboys upset 13^th-ranked Texas Tech 82-77 in overtime in Lubbock, Texas, earlier today.
 
Monday night's game will tip off at 9 p.m. and will be televised nationally on ESPN2.