Oklahoma Sooners beat West Virginia Mountaineers 77-63

The Oklahoma Sooners improved to 14-3 on the season and 2-2 in Big 12 play with a 77-63 win over West Virginia.

The Oklahoma Sooners bounced back from their 0-2 road swing with a 77-63 win over the West Virginia Mountaineers Wednesday night in the Lloyd Noble Center.

The Sooners and the Mountaineers traded baskets early on, but West Virginia was able to pull ahead for a six point lead in a low-scoring first half. Oklahoma responded over an 8-0 run to take a 20-18 lead at the 4:54 mark of the first half. And they wouldn’t trail for the remainder of the game.

The Sooners did a fantastic job on the defensive end of the floor, holding West Virginia’s leading scorer in check throughout. RaeQuan Battle came into the game averaging 20 points per game and shooting 42.7% from the field. Oklahoma held him to 12 points on 4 of 13 shooting and 2 of 8 from three-point range.

West Virginia had a decent night shooting, but the Sooners dominated the glass, outrebounding the Mountaineers 33-19 and 10-3 on the offensive boards. WVU also had 16 turnovers, which the Sooners turned into 16 points in the win.

It was a fantastic night for [autotag]Jalon Moore[/autotag] who led the way with 16 points on 7 of 11 shooting. Moore added five rebounds and two assists in the big-time performance. Along the way, he had several moments that were Sportscenter Top 10 worthy.

With just over six minutes to play in the first half and the Sooners trailing by four, Moore took a pass at the top of the key before driving down the lane to deliver a thunderous slam over a WVU defender.

Later in the game, after the Mountaineers switched to a 2-3 zone, Milos Uzan found Moore on the backside cut for the highlight reel alley-oop.

Three other Sooners scored in double-figures in the win. [autotag]Javian McCollum[/autotag] and [autotag]Rivaldo Soares[/autotag] each pitched in 13 and [autotag]Otega Oweh[/autotag] overcame a difficult shooting night to chip in 12 points to go along with 10 rebounds for the double-double.

[autotag]John Hugley[/autotag] added eight points and two assists off the bench. Milos Uzan continued to direct the offense well and also had eight points to go with five assists and four rebounds.

On the evening, Oklahoma shot 49% from the field and 33.3% from three. They were able to get to the line 10 more times than West Virginia, going 22 of 30 from the charity stripe. Oklahoma also outscored the Mountaineers in the paint 40-24 and on the fast break 13-2.

After a pair of losses a week ago, the Sooners came home and had a strong night. There are still things to clean up, but West Virginia brought an aggressive and physical game to Norman and the Sooners were up to the task.

The Sooners are now 14-3 and 2-2 in Big 12 play. They’ll get a few days off before going back on the road to take on the Cincinnati Bearcats on Saturday.

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