QUICK PREVIEW
No. 21/21 Oklahoma (14-7, 5-4) starts its second half of Big 12 play when it hosts No. 15/12 West Virginia (18-3, 6-2) on Tuesday at 7 p.m. CT at Lloyd Noble Center. The Sooners, who are 9-1 in Norman and boast a +21.9 average scoring margin in those 10 games, are coming off a 64-56 win at Oklahoma State on Saturday. The Mountaineers, who are 10-1 away from home, have won three straight contests, the most recent a 77-58 home victory over Texas Tech on Saturday.
ON THE AIR
Tuesday’s game will air on the Sooner Radio Network (KRXO 107.7 FM “The Franchise” in Oklahoma City; KTBZ 1430 AM in Tulsa; Sirius 91; XM 91) with Toby Rowland and Mike Houck announcing. It will be televised by ESPN2 with Dave Flemming and Miles Simon calling the action.
THE SERIES
Oklahoma owns a 5-3 series lead against West Virginia and is 2-0 against the Mountaineers in Norman. In the first meeting of this season on Jan. 13, the Sooners committed a season-high 22 turnovers at WVU and were outscored 27-12 off turnovers in an 86-65 loss, OU’s worst of the year. Buddy Hield registered team highs of 21 points and 8 rebounds while Isaiah Cousins added 14 points.
PREVIEWING WEST VIRGINIA
Picked by Big 12 coaches to finish sixth in the league (tied with Baylor), No. 15/12 West Virginia is off to an 18-3 start and is 6-2 in Big 12 play (tied for second place entering the week). WVU has already won more games than it did last year when it finished 17-16. The Mountaineers are 10-1 away from home (4-1 in true road games), with their only loss coming at Texas on Jan. 17 (77-50). They lead the nation in steals per game (12.4), turnover margin (+10.0 per game) and offensive rebounds (17.3 per game). They have outrebounded its opponents on the offensive glass by an average of 17.3 to 9.6 per contest. In Big 12 play, the Mountaineers are averaging 74.0 points per game (rank second in the league) on .397 field goal shooting (rank seventh), .288 3-point shooting (ninth) and .664 free throw shooting (seventh). They allow opponents to shoot .436 from the floor (ninth) and .362 from long distance (eighth).
Preseason Big 12 Player of the Year Juwan Staten is one of two Mountaineers who average double figures in scoring. The senior point guard is averaging 14.8 points, 2.9 rebounds and 4.4 assists (12.3, 2.1 and 4.7 in Big 12 play) while shooting .411 from the floor, .361 from 3-point range and .715 from the free throw line (.356, .333 and .577 in league action). Staten averaged 16.5 points through his first 15 games but is averaging 9.4 over the last five (scored 4 points on 1-for-9 shooting against OU in Morgantown). Sophomore forward Devin Williams is averaging 11.3 points and a team-high 8.0 boards (ranks third in Big 12) while shooting .447 from the field. He paces the team in conference play with his 13.4 points and 9.1 rebounds a contest. Junior forward Jonathan Holton averages 9.2 points and 6.0 rebounds a game on the year while freshman guard Jevon Carter comes off the bench to average 8.2 points and 2.1 steals (ranks second in the Big 12).
The Mountaineers are under the direction of eighth-year head coach Bob Huggins, who owns a 168-94 record at West Virginia.
