When the West Virginia men’s basketball team travels to Oklahoma Wednesday, they will have to prepare for a familiar, threatening roster type.
The Mountaineers’ most significant loss this season came on Jan. 6 to the Houston Cougars, when they were defeated 89-55. The Cougars ran a three-guard starting lineup that scored at will and held WVU to 4-23 shooting from the perimeter. The Sooners run the same kind of system.
Guards Javian McCollum, Otega Oweh, and Milos Uzan lead Oklahoma in minutes and scoring. Off the bench, guards Le’Tre Darthard and Rivaldo Soares average the next most minutes per game instead of Oklahoma’s starting forwards.
The Sooners average 80.1 points per game, the fifth most in the Big 12 with those main guards accounting for 51.1 of the points on average. McCollum has averaged 15 points in 30.9 minutes per game this season, just outside the top 10 in leading scorers in the confrence.
Oklahoma has been efficient at scoring from the free throw line as well, making the Big 12’s highest percentage, 76.2%, on the sixth most attempts at the line. The Sooners’ biggest threat, though, is defense.
Like Houston, the Sooners hold opponents to low three-point percentages, keeping opponents to 27.6% from three this season, which is third best in the Big 12. However, a new challenge for WVU will be height.
While McCollum, a junior, stands at 6’2″, Oweh and Uzan are 6’5″ and 6’4″ respectively. Darthard is also 6’4″ and Soares towers over college guards at 6’6″.
Oklahoma’s size directly challenges that of 6’5″ RaeQuan Battle, who struggled against Houston’s 6’1″ Jamal Shead. Battle averaged 20.2 points in six games played but struggles from beyond the arc, with just a 25.8% clip.
If Battle finds himself struggling against Oklahoma’s massive guard depth, WVU will have to look elsewhere, primarily in its forward department. As such, 6’9″ senior Quinn Slazinski and junior Patrick Suemnick, may lead the Mountaineers offensively.
Starting Sooners Jalon Moore and John Hugley IV, who are 6’7″ and 6’10” respectively, have the height to threaten WVU, but that comes without stellar rebounding or interior defense. WVU struggles in that department as well, especially without Jesse Edwards, but this will have to be the area of emphasis Wednesday.
Suemnick started his second game of the season on Saturday against Texas, and his career night led the upset. He shot five-of-seven from the field resulting in 16 points and added several highlights. On top of that, he grabbed six rebounds and attempted 12 free throws, of which he made six. The 6’8″ forward shot six-for-eight in 28 minutes against Houston and four-for-four in 21 minutes against Ohio State.
Playing 21 minutes from the bench Saturday, Quinn Slazinski scored 13 points, going seven-of-10 from the free throw line. Slazinski averages 14.4 points and 4.6 rebounds in 30.9 minutes per game this season.
The biggest problem offensively for the Mountaineers is efficiency, and this does not stop at the team’s guards. Slazinski and 6’7″ sophomore Josiah Harris, who started Saturday, shoot 39.5% and 28% respectively from the field. Each take a high volume of three-pointers as well and make a combined 27.4% of them.
If these big-body forwards can instead make their way inside with Suemnick, the Mountaineers may have a chance for another upset, this time against No. 9 Oklahoma.
Wednesday’s game tips off at 8 p.m. Eastern Time in Norman and will be streamed on ESPN+.
Photo by Wesley Shoemaker, Blue Gold Sports
