Lattin's Tip-In Lifts Sooners Past No. 11 WVU

<p>In a crazy last-second finish, No. 2 Oklahoma took down No. 11 West Virginia 70-68 inside of a sold out Lloyd Noble Center in Norman.&nbsp;</p>

Saturday, January 16th 2016, 6:56 pm

By: Brett Coppenbarger


In a crazy last-second finish, No. 2 Oklahoma took down No. 11 West Virginia 70-68 inside of a sold out Lloyd Noble Center in Norman.

It was a back-and-forth battle for most of the 40 minutes, but OU’s Khadeem Lattin walked away from this conference win as the hero. With the score tied at 68-68 and the clock running out of time, Sooner guard Jordan Woodard drove right towards the basket and launched up a bank shot that hit too hard off the glass, but luckily Lattin was near the basket ready for the put back, and the sophomore forward was able to elevate high enough to tip-in the game-winner with two seconds left on the clock.

West Virginia still had time to throw up a half court prayer, but Buddy Hield put an end to that long shot when he deflected WVU’s inbound pass which bounced around long enough to run out the clock to seal the Sooners’ victory.

There was a lot of talk heading into the game about West Virginia’s relentless press defense that forces a lot of turnovers, but Oklahoma was able to match the Mountaineers’ intensity somewhat. OU did turn it over 18 times in the game, but WVU wasn’t far behind with 16 turnovers of their own.

Hield had his lowest scoring output since the start of conference play with 17 points, but he still led the Sooners in that category and added four steals on the defensive side of the ball. Woodard followed him up with 13 points and a team-high three assists, while Ryan Spangler totaled 10 points and 14 rebounds.

Freshman Dante Buford was a spark off the bench with nine points, but WVU’s Jaysean Paige was the star reserve on the night after totaling 18 points. West Virginia’s two leading scorers came off the bench, with Elijah Macon totaling nine points. One thing that hurt the Mountaineers was Devin Williams’ foul trouble which limited him to only 15 minutes.

With the win, OU will likely move up to the No. 1 spot in the nation for the first time since 1990.

The Sooners will be back in action on Monday at 8 p.m. when they travel to Ames to take on No. 17 Iowa State. The matchup will be featured on ESPN as a part of the “Big Monday” broadcast. 

logo

Get The Daily Update!

Be among the first to get breaking news, weather, and general news updates from News 9 delivered right to your inbox!

More Like This

January 16th, 2016

March 22nd, 2024

March 14th, 2024

February 9th, 2024

Top Headlines

March 28th, 2024

March 28th, 2024

March 28th, 2024

March 28th, 2024