Field Level Media
Feb 18, 2020
Sean McNeil and Miles McBride scored 11 points apiece, and a dominant second half helped No. 17 West Virginia roll to a 65-47 win over Oklahoma State on Tuesday in Big 12 play in Morgantown, W.Va.
The result was the 879th win in the coaching career of Bob Huggins, allowing him to tie North Carolina legend Dean Smith for sixth place on the all-time list of NCAA Division I coaches.
The Mountaineers' defense turned the tide after halftime, forcing the Cowboys out of the attack-the-glass strategy that led to three wins in their past four games heading into Tuesday.
West Virginia (19-7, 7-6 Big 12) trailed by as many as 10 but cut the deficit to five points at the half with a 3-pointer by Jermaine Haley at the buzzer. Then the Mountaineers surged to a 48-37 lead with a 20-4 run over the first 12 minutes of the second half.
West Virginia, which snapped a three-game losing streak, ran away with the game down the stretch, with the final margin marking its largest lead.
Taz Sherman and Haley added nine points each for the Mountaineers, with Oscar Tshiebwe adding eight points (on only one field goal) and 15 rebounds, six on the offensive glass.
Cameron McGriff led all scorers with 19 points for Oklahoma State (13-13, 3-10). The Cowboys scored just 14 points and shot 16.7 percent (5 of 30) in the second half, missing eight of their last nine field-goal attempts.
After shooting well in the opening minutes, both teams struggled through a four-minute scoreless stretch. That drought ended with McNeil's jumper to bring the Mountaineers into a tie at 10. The Cowboys then reeled off a 12-2 run, capped by Thomas Dziagwa's 3-pointer at the 7:22 mark, and assumed a 22-12 lead.
Oklahoma State was up 33-28 at intermission behind McGriff's 13 points and 61.9 percent shooting as a team, to West Virginia's 39.3 percent. Sherman paced the Mountaineers with seven points, which came consecutively late in the half.
West Virginia began the second half with a 10-0 run over the first 5:34 and leapfrogged the Cowboys to a 38-33 lead. Oklahoma State missed 10 of its first 11 shots in the half.
--Field Level Media