Oklahoma Ends Losing Streak in Measured Victory Over West Virginia

After failing to register a shot in the first half of Oklahoma’s last outing against the No. 5-ranked Baylor Bears, Groves wasted little time getting involved on the offensive end.

Groves scored OU’s first bucket of the game and eight of the Sooners’ first 14 points en route to a game-high 21 points on the night.

Entering the night as Oklahoma’s leading scorer, Groves showed off his entire arsenal against the Mountaineers. Not only was he a physical threat in the low post, Groves was also able to step out and knock down a 3-pointer, helping create space for his teammates.

And as a result, the OU offense had its best outing since a 79-point outing two and a half weeks ago against the No. 23-ranked Iowa State Cyclones.

The offensive success also coincided with an enhanced emphasis on taking care of the basketball.

Oklahoma surrendered a season-high 25 turnovers last Saturday agains the Bears, and cut down on their offensive mistakes through the first 30 minutes of the game against the Mountaineers.

The Sooners were forced into some mistakes down the stretch, and finished the night with 17 turnovers. While the focus waned offensively down the stretch, Oklahoma was still able to force plenty of West Virginia mistakes, turning 15 Mountaineer turnovers into 20 points on the other end of the floor in comparison to WVU's 17 points off turnovers.

OU got the job done despite a shakeup to the starting lineup.

Jacob Groves stepped into the starting five for Elijah Harkless, who only logged four first half minutes for the entire contest.

Making the most of his opportunity, Jacob Groves had a nice scoring night in support of his brother, adding 12 points including a long buzzer-beater as the buzzer blared to end the first half.

Umoja Gibson also continued his streak of standout performances against the Mountaineers. After averaging 24.0 points per game across the two bouts last year, Gibson added another 12 points to help push the Sooners past West Virginia on Wednesday night.

Oklahoma’s road trip will continue this weekend, as they’ll travel to face the No. 1-ranked Auburn Tigers on Saturday, the second time the Sooners will have to face the top rated team in the country on the road this year.

Tip-off between the Sooners and the Tigers is scheduled for 1 p.m., and the game will be broadcast on ESPN.

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