Previewing OU's Matchup With No. 7 West Virginia

<p>Oklahoma&rsquo;s men&rsquo;s basketball team will be back in action when the Sooners (7-9, 1-4)&nbsp;take on No. 7 West Virginia (15-2, 4-1) in Morgantown on Wednesday night.&nbsp;</p>

Tuesday, January 17th 2017, 5:38 pm

By: Brett Coppenbarger


Oklahoma’s men’s basketball team will be back in action when the Sooners (7-9, 1-4) take on No. 7 West Virginia (15-2, 4-1) in Morgantown on Wednesday night at 6 p.m. 

Here are a few things to know about the matchup:

Sooners coming off a win

After dropping seven consecutive games, OU got back in the win column on Saturday by beating Texas Tech, 84-75. The Sooners started the game hot, and held off a much-improved Red Raiders team to pick up their first win in Big 12 play.

Jordan Woodard finished with 27 points while Rashard Odomes recorded a career-high 24 points with 17 coming in the first half as the Sooners set the tone early.

It will be no easy task for OU to string together back-to-back wins, seeing WVU has won 11 of its last 12 games with the only loss coming on the road against the same Texas Tech team the Sooners just beat. The Mountaineers do have two wins over top-6 teams during that span, so the Sooners will need to bring their best brand of basketball in order to come out on top.

Press Virginia

One of the reasons the Mountaineers have been so good in recent memory is due to their relentless style of defense. Bob Huggins’ crew is known for their daunting full-court press, which has led to their nickname: Press Virginia.

The Mountaineers currently lead the nation with 12.65 steals per game, and forced top-ranked Baylor to turn it over a whopping 29 times in WVU’s 89-68 win over the Bears last week.

OU’s young team will have its hands full dealing with the Mountaineers’ pressure, but Woodard’s return to the lineup should be helpful in figuring out how to attack the press.  

The half-court heave

OU’s last meeting with West Virginia definitely didn’t disappoint.

Led by Buddy Hield and a strong group of seniors, the Sooners fought back from a 12-point deficit with seven minutes left to nearly knock off the Mountaineers in the Big 12 Tournament. Hield hit a would-be game-winner from halfcourt as the buzzer rang, but after a review the shot was waived off and the Sooners were sent home from Kansas City with a 69-67 loss. 

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