Field Level Media
Mar 6, 2021
Avery Anderson III scored a career-high 31 points and Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe added 18 to help No. 17 Oklahoma State close the regular season with an 85-80 win against No. 6 West Virginia on Saturday in Morgantown, W. Va.
Oklahoma State (18-7, 11-7 Big 12) shot 57.9 percent compared to 41.7 percent for West Virginia, shining despite missing backcourt leaders Cade Cunningham and Isaac Likekele.
Cunningham, the conference's leading scorer and presumptive No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft in June, was held out as a precaution after spraining his left ankle late in Thursday's loss at No. 3 Baylor. His injury is not considered serious.
Likekele missed six of the Cowboys' last seven regular season games with various injuries, most recently to his hand.
West Virginia (18-8, 11-6 Big 12) missed a chance to clinch the No. 2 seed in next week's conference tournament in Kansas City, Mo., unable to catch the Cowboys after trailing by five points with 12:20 remaining. The Mountaineers led by as many as six.
Taz Sherman scored 20 points and Derek Culver had 14 to lead four West Virginia players in double figures.
Primed to join the company of Mike Krzyzewski, Jim Boeheim, Bob Knight and Roy Williams as the only men's basketball coaches to reach the 900-win benchmark in NCAA Division I, Mountaineers coach Bob Huggins remained on 899 career victories.
Playing without their leaders hardly fazed the Cowboys. Oklahoma State shot 51.7 percent in the first half compared to 39.4 percent for West Virginia, as the Mountaineers took a 39-34 lead into the break.
Limited by early foul trouble, Culver picked up where he left off after scoring seven points in only four first-half minutes.
Oklahoma State will be the fourth seed in the Big 12 tournament if TCU defeats No. 15 Texas on Sunday. The Cowboys would be the fifth seed should Texas win.
Kalib Boone (12 points) and Keylan Boone (11) rounded out a balanced attack for the Cowboys. Bernard Kouma snagged a game-high 10 rebounds.
Miles McBride (12 points) and Emmitt Matthews Jr. (11) also scored in double figures for West Virginia.
--Field Level Media