The West Virginia Mountaineers (25-7) and Oklahoma Sooners (25-6) meet in the third round of the Big 12 tournament at Sprint Center. Action begins at 9:00 pm ET on Friday, Mar. 11 and can be seen on ES2 and ES3.
The Mountaineers played well in their last game, dismantling TCU 86-66 in the 2. Devin Williams was a key piece, recording his 14th double-double of the season with 18 points and 13 rebounds. The Sooners, meanwhile, are coming off a 79-76 win against Iowa State in the 2. Buddy Hield was the game’s top scorer, registering 39 points on 14-for-21 shooting.
Baskets could be hard to come by as West Virginia ranks sixth in the nation, allowing just 94.4 points per 100 possessions, while Oklahoma is 18th (98.2). Also, the upper-echelon offense of the Sooners ranks 26th in eFG% at 54.3%, while the Mountaineers are 24th-best in the nation at forcing opponents’ misses (48.0%).
The Sooners have emerged victorious in both games against the Mountaineers this year, but lost their most recent matchup, an 86-66 blowout. Hield was the game’s top overall scorer with 39 points.
Notes
West Virginia won its last game by a 20-point margin. In games decided by a margin of 18 points or more, Oklahoma is 9-0. West Virginia is 12-0 in blowouts this season.
Ranked 18th, the Oklahoma Sooners have one of the top defenses in the country, giving up just 98.2 points per 100 possessions. The West Virginia Mountaineers rank 43rd in offense, scoring 113.1 points in the same number of possessions.
The Oklahoma Sooners average 71.6 possessions per game and 1.128 points per possession. The West Virginia Mountaineers earn fewer possessions with 70.6, but they score more points with 1.131.
West Virginia has an average effective field goal percentage of 50.4%. Oklahoma is a winning 7-3 when opponents have a similar or higher effective field goal percentage.
On average, West Virginia attempts 18.0 three pointers and Oklahoma attempts 24.0. Both teams have winning records when they have 20 or more three point attempts. The West Virginia Mountaineers sit at 10-4 and the Oklahoma Sooners are 21-6.
The Oklahoma Sooners average 5.2 blocks per game, the 21st-ranked team in the country. The West Virginia Mountaineers rank a lowly 270th in blocking with just 2.7 per game.
The West Virginia Mountaineers are among the best offensive rebounding teams in the country (ranked second). The Oklahoma Sooners are a very good defensive rebounding, ranking 21st.
Though West Virginia is one of the best in the country in forcing turnovers with opponents averaging a TO% of 25.5% (ranked first), Oklahoma is undefeated (2-0) when its TO% is 25.5% or greater.
