Coming into the pivotal road matchup with the West Virginia Mountaineers, the Oklahoma Sooners were desperate for a win. Losers of four straight, Porter Moser and crew needed to shake things up to get an edge heading into Morgantown.
The shakeup came in a lineup change that saw Jacob Groves join brother Tanner in the starting lineup in favor of Elijah Harkless, who’d been a starter for the Oklahoma Sooners for much of the last two seasons. For at least one game, the change helped spark the Sooners to a big 72-62 road win over the West Virginia Mountaineers.
Tanner Groves led the way with 21 points on 9 of 11 shooting and added six rebounds as well. Jacob Groves rewarded Porter Moser’s faith with 12 points and four rebounds. He shot 4 of 6 from the field, including 2 of 4 from three-point range. Umoja Gibson also added 12 points and five steals in the win.
On the night, Oklahoma shot 51% from the field and 35% from three-point range. They were 21 of 22 from the free throw line.
On the evening, Oklahoma continued their careless way with the basketball, with 17 turnovers, but because they were hitting their shots it didn’t seem to matter as much. Of course, it helps that they forced 15 West Virginia turnovers to keep the Mountaineers’ offense from ever really threatening for much of this game.
The last time the game was tied was with 12 minutes left in the first half. Once Oklahoma went up 14-12, they went up for good. A 15-4 run in the first gave the Sooners an 11-point lead and Tanner Groves’ three-pointer at the buzzer gave Oklahoma an eight-point lead going into halftime.
The Sooners opened it up to a 17-point lead midway through the second half and six points with about a minute remaining was as close as the Mountaineers would get to making a comeback.
With the win, the Oklahoma Sooners improve to 13-7 and 3-5 in the Big 12 ahead of a critical matchup with the No. 1 team in the country the Auburn Tigers. The Sooners and Tigers tip off at 12:00 p.m. central on ESPN.
West Virginia falls to 13-6 and 2-5 in the Big 12 and will next face Arkansas. Both games are a part of the Big 12-SEC challenge.
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