Five Things to Know Before WVU vs. Oklahoma

With West Virginia and Oklahoma both limping into the last week of the regular season, let’s take a look at five things to know before the game on Tuesday night.

Oklahoma’s Offense Killed WVU in First Matchup

Back on Jan. 26, Oklahoma’s offense led by Tanner Groves, scored 72 points on an efficient 51 percent from the field.

Groves was having everything that he wanted against the West Virginia defense. Against Isaiah Cottrell and Pauly Paulicap, Groves was able to get into the paint and hook it right over the defenders. Groves also spread the floor out, making his threes. Groves shot 9-of-11 from the field with six rebounds. The Eastern Washington transfer helped the Sooners score 34 points in the paint.

Jacob Groves and Umoja Gibson helped the Sooners’ offense that night as well. OU went on to win 72-62.

“They run really good stuff. They put a bunch of guys on the floor that can make shots,” Huggins said on Monday morning.

Mountaineers Need to Rebound

In the first matchup in Morgantown, the Sooners out-rebounded WVU, 32-26. West Virginia is 2-9 when they recorded 29 or less rebounds this season.

West Virginia has grabbed 32.4 rebounds per game in 29 contests this season, which is 307th in the country as of Tuesday. Fifth-year senior Gabe Osabuohien leads the team in rebounding, averaging 5.5 per game. It has been a collective effort from every player on this year’s team, as nine players average over 2.0 rebounds per game. WVU has seen highs in rebounding, like 38 rebounds against Elon or 36 versus Kansas State. But the team has also seen their lows with 17 against Texas over the weekend and 18 against Pitt.

WVU Still Looking For First Big 12 Road Win

West Virginia has one road win all year, defeating UAB back in December, in Birmingham. To throw salt in the wound, that game wasn’t on UAB’s campus and the Blazer fans were busy watching their football bowl game against BYU. The Mountaineers ended up rallying at the end, stealing the game 65-59.

As of Tuesday, West Virginia is still looking for their first road win in the Big 12, starting 0-8 on the road.

Betting Lines

The spread for the West Virginia and Oklahoma game is -5.5 OU. The WVU money line is +185.

The over/under is 135.5.

How to Watch and Listen

You can watch West Virginia take on Oklahoma on Tuesday, at 7 p.m., on ESPN2. The Big 12 matchup will take place inside the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman.

Mountaineer Sports Network will broadcast the game on the radio, with Tony Caridi and Jay Jacobs once again calling WVU games for the entirety of this season.