All Sooners

OU Basketball: Oklahoma Throttled by West Virginia

The Sooners suffered their fifth straight conference loss after West Virginia's wire-to-wire victory on Saturday.

Ryan Chapman

In this story:

Oklahoma’s tumble down the Big 12 standings continued on Saturday night.

The Sooners were played off their home floor by Oklahoma State on Wednesday night, and didn’t put up a fight on the road in Morgantown.

West Virginia blew out OU, dominating the Sooners 93-61 at WVU Coliseum.

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Following the same script as Oklahoma’s previous two Big 12 contests, the Mountaineers burst out to an early 10-2 lead.

Porter Moser’s starting lineup change, slotting guard Bijan Cortes in for Jacob Groves, appeared to be moot early.

But Oklahoma battled back — initially.

Grant Sherfield’s fourth 3-pointer of the first half cut the WVU advantage to 25-22 with 9:16 left until halftime, but it only served to anger the Mountaineers.

Led by a hot shooting night from Erik Stevenson, West Virginia closed the half on a 31-8 run to take a 26-point advantage into the intermission.

The onslaught continued in the second half.

Stevenson set a new career-high with 34 points on 13-of-23 shooting, including knocking down 6-of-11 from deep, while also pulling down six rebounds in the win.

The tenets of all the Sooners’ worst warts reared their ugly heads in Morgantown.

Oklahoma allowed 15 offensive rebounds, which the Mountaineers converted into 22 second-chance points. 

West Virginia also forced 16 turnovers, which were cashed in for 24 points on the other end. 

In total, OU lost the rebounding battle 43-35.

Moser explored all his options by shaking up his rotations in the loss.

Joe Bamisile, who had logged just six minutes of action in Big 12 play entering the game, was utilized early off the bench.

Ultimately it wasn’t the answer for the Sooners, as he added 11 points on 5-of-10 shooting, as well as pulling down one rebound, blocking one shot and swiping a steal.

Sherfield was the only other OU player to reach double figures in scoring, ending with 16 points, three rebounds and an assist.

Things will only get harder for the Sooners.

Next, OU heads to Waco to face off with No. 11-ranked Baylor.

Tipoff between the Sooners and the Bears is slated for 8 p.m. on Wednesday, and the game will be broadcast on ESPNU. 

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Ryan Chapman
RYAN CHAPMAN

Ryan is deputy editor at AllSooners and covers a number of sports in and around Norman and Oklahoma City. Working both as a journalist and a sports talk radio host, Ryan has covered the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma City Thunder, the United States Men’s National Soccer Team, the Oklahoma City Energy and more. Since 2019, Ryan has simultaneously pursued a career as both a writer and a sports talk radio host, working for the Flagship for Oklahoma sports, 107.7 The Franchise, as well as AllSooners.com. Ryan serves as a contributor to The Franchise’s website, TheFranchiseOK.com, which was recognized as having the “Best Website” in 2022 by the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters. Ryan holds an associate’s degree in Journalism from Oklahoma City Community College in Oklahoma City, OK.