Box Score MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Avery Anderson's career-high 31 points led 17^th-ranked Oklahoma State to a 85-80 victory over No. 6 West Virginia here at the WVU Coliseum this afternoon.
 
West Virginia (18-8, 11-6) was looking to lock up a No. 2 seed in next week's Big 12 tournament and get coach Bob Huggins his 900^th career victory.
 
It didn't accomplish the latter, and if Texas defeats struggling TCU tomorrow in Austin, the Mountaineers will fall to the No. 4 seed in the conference tournament with a possible matchup against these same Cowboys next Thursday. 
 
Oklahoma State, playing without its two best players Cade Cunningham and Issac Likekele, shot a sizzling 58% for the game, including 64.3% in the second half to overcome a five-point halftime deficit.
 
The Cowboys (18-7, 11-7) got most of their scoring near the basket where they outscored the Mountaineers 50-30 in the paint. Oklahoma State had a 38-29 edge on the glass and forced West Virginia into turning the ball over 10 times in the second half.
 
"They got anything they wanted," Huggins said.
 
The Mountaineers' frigid shooting during Thursday night's eight-point victory over TCU continued today. West Virginia was only five of 24 from behind the 3-point arc and shot 41.7% overall for the game.
 
"We had no bounce," Huggins said. "This team lives and dies by making jump shots. We don't have drivers. We have guys that can make shots and we didn't make any today."
 
Matthew Alexander-Moncrieffe added 18 points for OSU before fouling out with five minutes remaining. Brothers Kalib and Keylan Boone combined to score 23 points - Keylan hitting a couple of critical second-half 3s when West Virginia was trying to rally.
 
Bernard Kouma grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds before fouling out.
 
West Virginia's largest lead was six with 3:40 left in the first half, but OSU erased it by the 15-minute mark of the second half.
 
The Oklahoma State lead swelled to five on a Kalib Boone dunk before WVU eventually knotted it at 67 on two Miles McBride free throws. The game was also tied at 70 and 72 before the Cowboys got big baskets from Anderson and Kouma – Kouma's a put-back of Keylan Boone's air ball.
 
Anderson's biggest field goal came with 32 seconds left to put Oklahoma State up four.
 
Trailing 83-80 after an Anderson missed free throw, West Virginia had an opportunity to tie the game with 11 seconds left, but Keylan Boone stole McBride's pass intended for Derek Culver near the basket and Boone quickly called timeout to avoid a tie up. When play resumed, West Virginia fouled Anderson, who made both free throws to put the game away.
 
Oklahoma State closed out the Mountaineers by making five of its last six field goal attempts.
 
"We just didn't have it today," Huggins said. "I was concerned because of our lack of enthusiasm. In all of the years I've done this I don't know what to do. I gave them two days off because we had played three games in five days and you wonder, should we have gone hard?
 
"I don't think so, but we just had no bounce whatsoever," Huggins added.
 
OSU has been one of the most successful Big 12 teams playing here in Morgantown, the Cowboys winning six times since the Mountaineers joined the league in 2012, including four out of the last five.
 
Five of West Virginia's eight losses this season have come at home, and all five were by two-possession-or-less margins.
 
Senior guard Taz Sherman led WVU with 20 points on seven-of-15 shooting. Culver contributed 14 points coming off the bench, including his 1,000^th career point at WVU. He now shows 1,006 in 83 career games.
 
McBride scored 12 and Emmitt Matthews Jr. finished with 11.
 
Freshman Jalen Bridges, coming off a career-high 22 points and 12 rebounds on Thursday night against TCU, failed to score in 26 minutes of action today.
 
Sean McNeil also struggled to find his shooting stroke, the junior hitting just one of his eight 3-point attempts and finishing with seven points.
 
"When Sean McNeil shoots an air ball and J.B. shoots an air ball it's a bad day, because those guys can really shoot it," Huggins said. "And I'm not singling out those two because it was our whole team."
 
Sherman and forward Gabe Osabuohien were recognized before today's game on Senior Day and were also in the starting lineup.
 
WVU ended its four-games-in-six-days homestand by going 2-2, defeating Kansas State and TCU and losing to No. 3 Baylor and No. 17 Oklahoma State.
 
The Big 12 will announce next week's tournament pairings following the conclusion of tomorrow's games. The 2021 Big 12 Tournament will take place at T-Mobile Arena in Kansas City.
 
West Virginia is 10-3 in games played away from the Coliseum this year, so perhaps going on the road for the remainder of the season will benefit the Mountaineers. 
 
A couple days off could also be beneficial for the players getting their legs back for postseason play.