West Virginia took care of business at home on Saturday defeating Oklahoma State 69-50 on Saturday, notching their seventh win in a row.
Javon Small got it done once again for the Mountaineers, this time against his former team. He led all scorers with 24 points and also had 11 rebounds, four assists and three steals. Freshman Jonathan Powell also played well scoring 17 points, shooting five-of-seven from beyond the arc.
Oklahoma State committed a total of 17 turnovers and were out-rebounded by West Virginia. They had clear struggles knocking down shots at some times, shooting 33.3% from the field and 14.3% from three.
West Virginia got out to a 5-0 lead but weren’t exactly playing their best basketball early. Oklahoma State struggled as well, though.
The game continued to lack flow. By the under 12 minutes media timeout, WVU led 8-4, while each team hadn’t made a field goal in several minutes.
The Mountaineers got things rolling soon thereafter. They went on a 12-0 run and began to build a lead.
With Oklahoma State’s struggles prolonged, West Virginia capitalized. The Cowboys would slightly cut the deficit, going on an 8-0 run with close to four minutes left in the first half.
WVU continued to control the pace and score from every level as the first half winded down. At the end of the first half, they led 46-19.
Oklahoma State shot just 25% from the field in the first half, making just two threes on 12 attempts. West Virginia scored 15 points off 10 OSU turnovers in the first half.
As the second half began, the Mountaineers looked to continue to show out and send fans home satisfied. However, just like in the first half, both teams started slow in the second half.
Oklahoma State cut into the lead midway through the second half, but West Virginia was still comfortably leading. With five minutes left in the game, WVU was in a scoring drought of six minutes, while OSU was on a run.
As the game winded down, West Virginia remained in control as they defeated Oklahoma State. They didn’t have total success throughout the contest but had periods of dominance.
With the win WVU moves to 11-2 on the season and begins conference play 2-0. Next up for the Mountaineers is a matchup against Arizona at home on Tuesday.
