West Virginia Loses 7th-Straight, Falling to Oklahoma 72-59

In West Virginia’s final road game in the Big 12 schedule, the Mountaineers fall to Oklahoma in Norman, 72-59.

With Tuesday’s loss, the Mountaineers (14-16, 3-14 Big 12) extend their losing streak to seven games. This marks WVU’s second seven-game losing streak. The other dated back from Jan. 15 to Feb. 8. This losing streak ties the longest losing streak during head coach Bob Huggins’ tenure.

In the first half, West Virginia’s offense was as bad as you could think. Miss after miss for the Mountaineers as Oklahoma (16-14, 6-11 Big 12) controlled the game. After missing 17-straight shots, WVU was shooting 4-of-25 at one point. Forward Isaiah Cottrell ended the first half drought with a three at the top of the key. Once the drought ended, the Mountaineers got on a roll. A 10-0 run cut Oklahoma’s lead to four points at the end of the first half.

Fifth-year senior Pauly Paulicap gave West Virginia some needed energy on Tuesday night, checking into the game for 20 minutes. Paulicap was all over the floor, diving for loose balls, blocking shots and putting back in missed shots. Paulicap finished with 10 points and five rebounds.

In the first matchup between the Mountaineers and Sooners, OU’s Tanner Groves scored 21 points and shot 9-of-11 from the field with six rebounds. This time around, it was the same story. The Eastern Washington transfer dunked the ball with 6:30 left in the game to extend Oklahoma’s lead to six. Groves recorded 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting, with 10 rebounds.

Senior guard Sean McNeil didn’t get much playing time, as he was only in for 18 minutes. The Kentucky native scored five points on 1-of-8 shooting from the field.

Kedrian “Keddy” Johnson tried going out there and giving full effort. At the 16:30 mark, Johnson made contact with his injured hip at winched in pain as he exited the game. Johnson returned to the floor in the first half, but received limited playing time for the rest of the game. Johnson ended the night with three points in nine minutes. For the past week, Johnson has been dealing with a hip injury. The senior guard missed the Iowa State game last Wednesday and played in limited minutes against Texas on Saturday.

Notable scorers for West Virginia were Malik Curry (17), Taz Sherman (11) and Paulicap (10).

West Virginia will look to conclude the regular season on Saturday afternoon against TCU. The Mountaineers will be celebrating senior day before the game. WVU and TCU will tip off at 2 p.m. on ESPN+.