Free Throws Cost West Virginia Against Oklahoma, Drops Fifth-Straight Game 77-76

West Virginia drops their fifth-consecutive game as they couldn’t get over the hump against Oklahoma, 77-76. Mountaineers missed key free throws down the stretch.

Oklahoma (11-6, 2-3 Big 12) led the entire game on Saturday afternoon.

West Virginia’s (10-7, 0-5 Big 12) free throw shooting struggles continued as they shot 8-of-16 from the line. Erik Stevenson, Joe Toussaint and Tre Mitchell all missed free throws down the stretch. WVU at one point missed four free throws in one possession, two by Jimmy Bell and two by Mitchell, after Oklahoma head coach Porter Moser was charged with a technical foul.

West Virginia’s second half offense was much improved from the first half. Mountaineers at one point made eight-straight field goals to get back into the game. West Virginia trailed by nine with 12 minutes but cut the lead down slowly. WVU shifted to a small ball lineup and it worked. Mitchell, Emmitt Matthews and Kedrian Johnson hit big shots to get WVU back into the game.

WVU’s balanced scoring was highlighted by Mitchell (16), Toussaint (14), Johnson (13), Matthews (11) and Stevenson (9).

Toussaint sat on the bench until mid-way through the first half and made an immediate impact. Toussaint scored WVU’s 10 of their last 14 points in the first half.

WVU head coach Bob Huggins shifted the rotation towards the end of the first half playing some of the guys at the end of the bench. Freshman guard Josiah Davis and sophomore forward Pat Suemnick checked into the game, with the two only recording 35 combined minutes this season.

For the first time in nearly 16 years, West Virginia was without associate head coach Larry Harrison on the sidelines. West Virginia’s basketball program parted ways with Harrison on Thursday. Harrison has coached with Bob Huggins for 24 seasons, 16 at WVU from 2007-23 and eight at Cincinnati from 1989-97.

It has been 690 days since West Virginia’s last conference road win. 12-straight Big 12 road losses with the last win coming in Feb. 2021.

West Virginia will head back home to prepare to host a ranked TCU team on Wednesday at the WVU Coliseum. Mountaineers and Horned Frogs will tipoff at 7 p.m. on ESPN+.