West Virginia Loses Fifth Straight
Norman, OK - The West Virginia Mountaineers (10-7, 0-5) drop another heartbreaker to the Oklahoma Sooners (11-6, 2-3) Saturday afternoon, 77-76, extending the Mountaineers' losing streak to five. Oklahoma guard Grant Sherfield led all scorers with 22 points while West Virginia forward led the Mountaineers with 16.
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Oklahoma freshman guard Milos Uzan scored the game's first bucket, then West Virginia forward Jimmy Bell Jr. tied the game with a contested basket and the game was tied at two.
The Sooners started the game 4-5 from three-point range, including sophomore guard CJ Noland burying his first two to take an 18-11 advantage at the midway point of the first half.
West Virginia guard Joe Toussaint ignited a 9-2 run to tie the game at 20, scoring eight of his 10 first half points. However, at the Mountaineer run, Oklahoma head coach Porter Moser was issued a technical following a charge from Sooner forward Tanner Groves. Tre Mithell missed the pair of free throws that followed, then Bell missed his pair of attempts after he was fouled underneath, and the score remained 18-15.
Sooners senior Grant Sherfield hit a jumper on the ensuing possession to reclaim the lead but WVU forward Tre Mitchell answered, and the game was locked at 22.
Oklahoma held a 31-29 advantage at the break with Sherfield leading all-scorers with 11 and Toussaint's 10 first half points led the Mountaineers.
Bell tied the game at 33 early in the second half work but Sherfield answered on the ensuing possession with a three and the foul, completing a four-point play.
The Sooners constructed a 9-2 run, led by a pair of threes from Tanner Groves to grab their largest lead of the contest, nine, 52-43 at the 12:25 mark of the second half.
West Virginia responded with a 4-0 spurt and began chipping away at the Sooner lead and cut the deficit to three, 61-64, after forward Emmitt Matthews Jr. buried a three from the left corner with 6:38 left to play in the game.
Mountaineer guard Erik Stevenson got WVU within one, driving the lane and hitting a contested runner.
Mitchell tied the game at 70 after working the post, drawing a foul, and going 1-2 from the free throw line with 1:43 left to play.
West Virginia got the stop on the next possession with Kedrian Johnson poking the ball away. The Mountaineers called a timeout, Toussaint came out of the huddling with a drive to the basket and got the foul. He missed both free throws and the Sooners took a time out with just under a minute remaining in the game.
Four straight free throws by the Sooners for the two-possession lead and closed out the game from the line as Oklahoma pushes its winning streak in the all-time series over the Mountaineers to seven with the 77-76 victory
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