No. 15 WVU falls to Hield, No. 21 OU
NORMAN, Okla. – Buddy Hield scored 21 points and No. 21 Oklahoma defeated No. 15 West Virginia 71-52 on Tuesday night.
Hield, the Big 12’s leading scorer, made 8 of 13 shots, including 5 of 7 3-pointers.
Jordan Woodard had 12 points and Ryan Spangler and Isaiah Cousins each added 10 for the Sooners (15-7, 6-4 Big 12). Oklahoma shot a season-high 61 percent from the field to win their third straight.
Oklahoma committed 22 turnovers in the first meeting, an 86-65 win for the Mountaineers on Jan. 13. This time, the Sooners committed just 13.
Juwan Staten had 15 points and nine rebounds and Gary Browne added 12 points for West Virginia (18-4, 6-3), which had won three straight.
Devin Williams, the conference’s No. 2 rebounder and Big 12 leader in field goal percentage, was ill and did not play. He had 14 points and 11 rebounds in the first meeting.
Oklahoma led 14-11 before going on a 13-0 run to break open the game. West Virginia went scoreless for 5:33 during that stretch.
The Sooners led 38-24 at halftime after shooting 62 percent. They outscored West Virginia 20-4 in points off turnovers before the break.
West Virginia turned the tide early in the second half as its full-court press started to bother the Sooners. The Mountaineers went on an 8-0 run to cut Oklahoma’s lead to 43-35.
Hield’s 3-pointer gave the Sooners a 52-40 edge with just under 10 minutes remaining, and he hit another 3 with just over eight minutes to play that pushed the lead back to 14 points. The Sooners remained in control from there.
TIP-INS
West Virginia: Elijah Macon made his first career start in Williams’ place and scored eight points in 16 minutes. … West Virginia made just 2 of 13 3-pointers in the first half and 5 of 26 in the game. … The Mountaineers, who entered the night as the nation’s leader in steals per game (12.4) finished with seven.
Oklahoma: Spangler was chosen Big 12 Player of the Week for his efforts last week. … This was Oklahoma’s nation-leading 10th game against a Top 25 team this year. … Oklahoma made just 11 of 22 free throws.
UP NEXT
West Virginia: Hosts Baylor on Saturday.
Oklahoma: At TCU on Saturday.
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Follow Cliff Brunt on Twitter: www.twitter.com/CliffBruntAP .