SATURDAY'S GAME BASICS
No. 2 Oklahoma returns to Big 12 action when No. 11 West Virginia travels to Norman for a 3 p.m. CT contest inside Lloyd Noble Center on Saturday. OU, which is 14-1 overall and 3-1 in conference, is in its fifth season under head coach Lon Kruger. The Mountaineers are 15-1 this season (4-0 Big 12) and are under the direction of Bob Huggins, now in his ninth campaign in Morgantown.
ON THE AIR
Saturday’s contest will air on the Sooner Radio Network (KRXO 107.7 FM “The Franchise” in Oklahoma City; KTBZ 1430 AM in Tulsa) with Toby Rowland and Scott Thompson announcing. The Big 12 battle will be televised by ESPN2 with Dave Flemming and Miles Simon calling the action.
SCOUTING WEST VIRGINIA
West Virginia’s 15-1 start is its best since the 1981-82 team started 24-1. Last year, WVU started 14-1 and finished 25-10.
West Virginia is ranked No. 11 in the Associated Press poll and is No. 10 in the latest USA Today Coaches Poll. This week marks the highest ranking in each poll for the Mountaineers this season.
With 780 career wins, Bob Huggins is in 10th place on the NCAA Division I all-time winningest coaches list. Huggins’ record now stands at 780-313 in his 34th season as a head coach. He needs six wins to tie Lefty Driesell for ninth place. Huggins is the third-winningest active Division I coach behind Mike Krzyzewski and Jim Boeheim.
WVU leads the country in steals and forced turnovers. WVU ranks second in offensive rebounds per game and turnover margin. WVU is forcing its opponents to turn it over on 27.6 percent of their possessions. WVU averages 25.3 points off turnovers and 20.0 points per game from second chance points.
WVU has forced 30 or more turnovers in three games this season. WVU has had at least seven steals in every game and has forced 14 or more turnovers in every game.
This year, the Mountaineers have forced more turnovers (334) than opponents made field goals (316).
West Virginia currently ranks second in the country in scoring margin (+21.9). WVU is averaging 85.2 points per game compared to opponents’ 63.4.
Devin Williams shows 24 double-doubles for his career. He has 27 career double-figure rebounding performances. Williams started the season with five consecutive double-doubles. The last WVU player to start the season with five straight double-doubles was Rod Thorn in 1960-61.
Williams leads the team in scoring with 14.7 points per contest, followed by Jaysean Paige (13.4), Jevon Carer (12.6) and Daxter Miles Jr. (11.5). Williams also leads the team in rebounding with 8.8 boards per contests.
GAMEDAY STORYLINES
SCENE SETTER: No. 2 Oklahoma returns to Big 12 action when No. 11 West Virginia travels to Norman for a 3 p.m. CT contest inside Lloyd Noble Center on Saturday. OU, which is 14-1 overall and 3-1 in conference, is in its fifth season under head coach Lon Kruger. The Mountaineers are 15-1 this season (4-0 Big 12) and are under the direction of Bob Huggins, now in his ninth campaign in Morgantown. WVU currently sits in the top spot in the Big 12 standings, while Oklahoma is tied for second.
SERVING TREYS: Oklahoma currently ranks second nationally in 3-point field goal percentage (.461) by hitting 160-347 of its shots from downtown this season. Oklahoma’s all-time record for 3-point field goal percentage in a campaign is .414 (1986-87). OU has connected on at least 10 treys in 10 games this year. OU’s starting five is averaging a combined 49.1 percent shooting from long distance. Jordan Woodard and Buddy Hield are currently ranked No. 3 and No. 4, respectively, in 3FG% nationally.
ON THE OFFENSIVE: The Sooners enter Saturday’s game ranked in the top 15 in both scoring offense (87.3 points per game, third) and scoring margin (+16.2, 13th) by holding opponents to just 71.1 points per contest. Oklahoma has scored at least 80 points in 12 of 14 contests this season.
BUDDY BUCKETS: Senior Buddy Hield is currently averaging 26.6 points per game, which ranks first in the Big 12 and second nationally (first among Power 5 Conferences). He has scored at least 20 points in nine straight games and his 51.8 percent (59-114) shooting from downtown ranks fourth in the country. His 3.93 3FGM per game is tops in the nation. The Bahamas native has six games of at least 30 points this season, including five such games in the last nine contests.
STEADFAST SOONERS: Oklahoma isn’t short on experience or leadership this season. OU’s quartet of Cousins, Hield, Spangler and Woodard have each started every game (83 total) for OU the past three seasons, tallying 332 combined starts during that span. With the addition of Khadeem Lattin (15 starts), OU boasts a starting five with 374 combined career starts.
