Monday, February 20
Morgantown, W.Va.
7:00 p.m.
West Virginia University
16-12,5-10Big 12
85
vs
67
Oklahoma State
16-12,7-8Big 12
1
2
F
Oklahoma St.
21
46
67
West Virginia
40
45
85
Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
West Virginia Routs Oklahoma State Monday Night at the WVU Coliseum
February 20, 2023 10:10 PM | Men's Basketball
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Erik Stevenson scored 23 points and Tre Mitchell added a season-high 22 to lead West Virginia to an 85-67 victory over Oklahoma State Monday night at the WVU Coliseum.
Stevenson and Mitchell were both 8-of-15 from the floor, with Stevenson hitting 5-of-6 from behind the arc and Mitchell going 6-of-7 from the free throw line.
"We really needed tonight's win," West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said. "This gives us five (in Big 12 play) with another home game here and a couple on the road and then the conference tournament. Hopefully we can put ourselves in a much better position."
The Mountaineers held Oklahoma State without a field goal during an eight-minute stretch in the first half to build a 20-point lead. Tyreek Smith's putback basket with 11:39 left and John-Michael Wright's driving layup with 3:37 remaining were the only baskets for the Cowboys during that stretch.
Meanwhile, West Virginia outscored Oklahoma State 18-1 over that same span of time to build its lead to 36-16 on Kobe Johnson's short jumper.
The Mountaineers' largest lead was 23 points, 81-58, with 4:39 remaining.
Oklahoma State (16-12, 7-8) never led.
"That's a talented team," Huggins said of Oklahoma State. "Their athleticism scared me to death coming into this game. We had to find a way to stay in front of them."
Kedrian Johnson tallied 12 points for the Mountaineers, which snapped their three-game losing streak to improve to 16-12 overall and 5-10 in Big 12 play.
Oklahoma State, which lost 100-75 at TCU two nights ago, has now dropped three straight after a recent five-game winning streak.
WVU shot 43.9% overall and 41.2% from 3, while OSU shot 38.5% overall and only 10.5% from 3. The Cowboys missed 17 of their 19 shot attempts from behind the arc.
"You want to keep them from making 3s, they add up faster than 2s," Huggins said. "I think pushing up on the ball screen with this team is the best way to go."
West Virginia outscored Oklahoma State 28 to 4 in points off turnovers and 22 to 11 in second-chance points on the strength of 17 offensive rebounds. WVU's inside players, which tallied a combined 15 points in Saturday afternoon's loss to Texas Tech, scored 45 tonight.
The Cowboys committed 18 turnovers.
"I thought we played really hard," Huggins said. "Defensively, this is as well as we've played all year."
The announced crowd for tonight's game was 11,874, boosting WVU's season average to 11,872 with one regular season contest left. It's going to be the eighth time in the last nine years that West Virginia will average more than 10,000 fans per game. The only year it didn't was 2021 when COVID-19 restrictions significantly reduced capacity for games at the Coliseum.
Tonight's victory improves West Virginia's NCAA Tournament hopes with four regular season games and the Big 12 Tournament remaining. The Cowboys came into tonight's game with an NCAA NET ranking of 37, which gives WVU another Quad 2 win. Prior to tonight's game, ESPN's Joe Lunardi had West Virginia in his "Last Four In" category.
The Mountaineers have five Quad 1 and four Quad 2 victories with three Quad 1 contests remaining at No. 6 Kansas on Saturday, at No. 15 Iowa State on Monday night and at home against No. 20 Kansas State to conclude the regular season.
Earlier today, the Kansas State game was announced a sellout.
"We had a long talk before yesterday about, 'How do you want to go out? Do you want to go out playing in the NCAA Tournament, advancing and representing your state, or do you want to continue to give games away at the end and not go anywhere and feel miserable?'" Huggins said.
Saturday's Kansas game will tip off at 4 p.m. and will be televised nationally on ESPN.
Stevenson and Mitchell were both 8-of-15 from the floor, with Stevenson hitting 5-of-6 from behind the arc and Mitchell going 6-of-7 from the free throw line.
"We really needed tonight's win," West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said. "This gives us five (in Big 12 play) with another home game here and a couple on the road and then the conference tournament. Hopefully we can put ourselves in a much better position."
The Mountaineers held Oklahoma State without a field goal during an eight-minute stretch in the first half to build a 20-point lead. Tyreek Smith's putback basket with 11:39 left and John-Michael Wright's driving layup with 3:37 remaining were the only baskets for the Cowboys during that stretch.
Meanwhile, West Virginia outscored Oklahoma State 18-1 over that same span of time to build its lead to 36-16 on Kobe Johnson's short jumper.
The Mountaineers' largest lead was 23 points, 81-58, with 4:39 remaining.
Oklahoma State (16-12, 7-8) never led.
"That's a talented team," Huggins said of Oklahoma State. "Their athleticism scared me to death coming into this game. We had to find a way to stay in front of them."
Kedrian Johnson tallied 12 points for the Mountaineers, which snapped their three-game losing streak to improve to 16-12 overall and 5-10 in Big 12 play.
Oklahoma State, which lost 100-75 at TCU two nights ago, has now dropped three straight after a recent five-game winning streak.
WVU shot 43.9% overall and 41.2% from 3, while OSU shot 38.5% overall and only 10.5% from 3. The Cowboys missed 17 of their 19 shot attempts from behind the arc.
"You want to keep them from making 3s, they add up faster than 2s," Huggins said. "I think pushing up on the ball screen with this team is the best way to go."
West Virginia outscored Oklahoma State 28 to 4 in points off turnovers and 22 to 11 in second-chance points on the strength of 17 offensive rebounds. WVU's inside players, which tallied a combined 15 points in Saturday afternoon's loss to Texas Tech, scored 45 tonight.
The Cowboys committed 18 turnovers.
"I thought we played really hard," Huggins said. "Defensively, this is as well as we've played all year."
The announced crowd for tonight's game was 11,874, boosting WVU's season average to 11,872 with one regular season contest left. It's going to be the eighth time in the last nine years that West Virginia will average more than 10,000 fans per game. The only year it didn't was 2021 when COVID-19 restrictions significantly reduced capacity for games at the Coliseum.
Tonight's victory improves West Virginia's NCAA Tournament hopes with four regular season games and the Big 12 Tournament remaining. The Cowboys came into tonight's game with an NCAA NET ranking of 37, which gives WVU another Quad 2 win. Prior to tonight's game, ESPN's Joe Lunardi had West Virginia in his "Last Four In" category.
The Mountaineers have five Quad 1 and four Quad 2 victories with three Quad 1 contests remaining at No. 6 Kansas on Saturday, at No. 15 Iowa State on Monday night and at home against No. 20 Kansas State to conclude the regular season.
Earlier today, the Kansas State game was announced a sellout.
"We had a long talk before yesterday about, 'How do you want to go out? Do you want to go out playing in the NCAA Tournament, advancing and representing your state, or do you want to continue to give games away at the end and not go anywhere and feel miserable?'" Huggins said.
Saturday's Kansas game will tip off at 4 p.m. and will be televised nationally on ESPN.
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Team Stats
OSU
WVU
FG%
.385
.439
3FG%
.105
.412
FT%
.735
.800
RB
37
39
TO
18
9
STL
7
9
Game Leaders
Pts
23
FGM
8
3FGM
5
FTM
2
Pts
22
FGM
8
3FGM
0
FTM
6
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
3
Pts
9
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Players Mentioned
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/ Men's Basketball
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/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's BasketballG
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