West Virginia Mountaineers at Oklahoma Sooners

Buddy Hield spurs No. 21 Oklahoma past No. 15 WVU

The 21st-ranked Sooners handled it well and defeated No. 15 West Virginia 71-52 on Tuesday night.

Oklahoma committed 22 turnovers in the first meeting, an 86-65 win for the Mountaineers on Jan. 13. This time, the Sooners committed just 13 and often scored after breaking down West Virginia's defense.

"The guys did a good job of trusting each other and moving to be available for each other, playing the traps a little bit stronger," Oklahoma coach Lon Kruger said. "When you play against a really good press like that, you've really got to lean on each other."

The Sooners focused on making smart plays once they got past the first wave.

Buddy Hield scored 21 points. The Big 12's leading scorer made eight of 13 shots, including five of seven 3-pointers. Woodard had 12 points, and Ryan Spangler and Isaiah Cousins each added 10 for the Sooners (15-7, 6-4 Big 12). Oklahoma shot a season-high 61 percent from the field to win its third straight.

Juwan Staten had 15 points and nine rebounds, and Gary Browne added 12 points for West Virginia (18-4, 6-3), which had won three straight.

Devin Williams, the conference's No. 2 rebounder in Big 12 play and the league leader in field goal percentage, was ill and did not play. He had 14 points and 11 rebounds in the first meeting. Huggins said he expected more out of Williams' replacements.

"Obviously, he's been back there more than everybody else. He's our most experienced guy, but the truth of the matter is, Brandon (Watkins) and Elijah (Macon) are both better shot-blockers. Brandon and Elijah get the same amount of reps in practice that (Williams) gets."

Oklahoma led 14-11 before going on a 13-0 run to break open the game. West Virginia went scoreless for 5:33 during that stretch.

The Sooners led 38-24 at halftime after shooting 62 percent.

West Virginia turned the tide early in the second half as its full-court press started to bother the Sooners. The Mountaineers went on an 8-0 run to cut Oklahoma's lead to 43-35.

Hield's 3-pointer gave the Sooners a 52-40 edge with just less than 10 minutes remaining, and he hit another 3 with just more than eight minutes to play that pushed the lead back to 14 points. The Sooners remained in control from there.

"At the time when they were trying to cut it under 10, our guys came up with some good stops and boards and pushed it back out there midway through the second half," Kruger said.

TIP-INS

West Virginia: Macon made his first career start in Williams' place and scored eight points in 16 minutes. ... West Virginia made just two of 13 3-pointers in the first half and five of 26 in the game. ... The Mountaineers, who entered the night as the nation's leader in steals per game (12.4), finished with seven.

Oklahoma: Spangler was chosen Big 12 player of the week for his efforts last week. ... This was Oklahoma's nation-leading 10th game against a Top 25 team this season. ... Oklahoma made just 11 of 22 free throws.

QUOTE OF THE NIGHT

KEY STATS

Oklahoma outscored West Virginia 27-8 in points off turnovers and had 20 fast-break points to six for West Virginia.

UP NEXT

West Virginia: Hosts Baylor on Saturday.

Oklahoma: At TCU on Saturday.

How can I watch West Virginia vs. Oklahoma?

• TV Channel: West Virginia at Oklahoma 2021 College Basketball, week 13, is broadcasted on ESPN2.
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