MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – No. 14 West Virginia draw another difficult assignment tonight when it faces surging Oklahoma State in a Monday night Big 12 game in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
 
The Cowboys are coming off an impressive 82-77 overtime win at No. 18 Texas Tech last Saturday.
 
Guards Avery Anderson II and Isaac Likekele led OSU with 17 points each, while super freshman Cade Cunningham contribute 13 points, seven rebounds, four assists and four steals.
 
Cunningham, a 6-foot-8, 220-pound guard from Arlington, Texas, was considered the nation's No. 1-rated recruit heading into this season and he hasn't disappointed.
 
He is currently leading the Cowboys in scoring (18.4 ppg.), assists (34), 3-point field goals (12) and blocks (eight). Cunningham is grabbing 5.8 rebounds per game and has taken twice as many shots as the next closest player Likekele, who is averaging 10.9 points per outing.
 
Likekele is OSU's top rebounder with an average of 8.1 boards per game.
 
Oklahoma State (7-2, 1-2) has lost twice in Big 12 play – both by one-possession margins to TCU (77-76) and to Texas (77-74).
 
The Cowboys also have a couple of impressive non-conference wins over Marquette in the Big 12-Big East Challenge and at Wichita State, and are now receiving votes in this week's Associated Press Top 25 Poll.
 
West Virginia (8-3, 1-2) dropped its second Big 12 road game of the season on Saturday afternoon at Oklahoma when the Mountaineers dug themselves a deep first half hole, trailing the Sooners by 18.
 
WVU was able to stage a furious second-half rally to tie the game, but could never wrestle away the lead.
 
Freshman forward Jalen Bridges, earning his first career start, produced 19 points to match Taz Sherman's point total coming off the bench. Bridges made 7-of-9 from the floor and scored 11 of West Virginia's 20 first half points.
 
Sophomore guard Miles McBride contributed 15 points and junior forward Emmitt Matthews Jr. added 11. WVU made a season-high 14 triples against Oklahoma – the most by a West Virginia team since hitting 15 against St. Joseph's in 2018.
 
McBride is one of four double-digit scorers for the Mountaineers, leading them with a 14.8 points-per-game average. 
 
Junior forward Derek Culver is averaging 13 points and 9.5 rebounds, but he had a tough afternoon at Oklahoma scoring just two points while committing a season-high seven turnovers.
 
West Virginia owns a narrow 9-8 edge in all-time series play, including a season sweep last year. WVU has won eight of the last 12 against the Cowboys.
 
Tonight's game will tip off at 9 p.m. and will be televised nationally on ESPN2 (Bob Wischusen and Fran Fraschilla). The Mountaineer Sports Network from Learfield IMG College radio coverage will begin at 8 p.m. on affiliates throughout West Virginia and online via WVUsports.com and the popular mobile app WVU Gameday.
 
The Mountaineers will return to Morgantown following tonight's game.