Yet if the Mountaineers are to avoid losing control of the season and aspire to play meaningful basketball in March, they need to start generating favorable results in a hurry, starting with Tuesday’s 7 p.m. matchup against Oklahoma State. The contest at Gallasgher-Iba Arena will air nationally on CBS Sports Network.
WVU (16-11, 7-7) did itself no favors last week with what could widely be considered its most disappointing two-game stretch this season — a 61-56 home loss to Utah and a 60-54 setback Saturday at TCU in which the Horned Frogs won the final 4-plus minutes, 12-2.
“I told our team the beauty of being in the Big 12 is you’re going to get quality opportunities,” first-year WVU head coach Ross Hodge said. “We had one [Saturday] and didn’t take advantage of it. More opportunities are in our grasp and in our reach, but eventually, you have to take advantage of the opportunities. I did feel like we had an opportunity to get one and we weren’t able to do that, but more opportunities are on the way and obviously Tuesday night in Stillwater will be another opportunity.”
It marked the sixth time over the last eight games the Mountaineers were held to fewer than 60 points, while they managed 63 during in another game over that stretch.
WVU is averaging a shade under 59 points over its last eight games after scoring 67 over its first six within the Big 12.
Against the Horned Frogs, an inability to execute down the stretch made all the difference as the visitors lost a 52-48 advantage and conference games in consecutive fashion for the first time this season. Over the two games last week, the Mountaineers made 42-of-101 shots and only 10-of-44 three-pointers, while turning it over 24 times, 16 of which came at TCU.
“Ultimately, we had 10 offensive possessions after we went up five or six, and we turned the ball over on four of ten possessions,” Hodge said. “You can’t do that in a close game against a quality team.”
If the Mountaineers can’t generate more offense Tuesday, they’ll almost certainly have a tough team keeping up. The Cowboys (16-11, 4-10) are the Big 12’s third-highest scoring team at 83.4 points, but surrender the highest total at 82.6. Excluding non-conference play, OSU averages 76.4 points and surrenders 84.2. WVU is at 62.4 points scored and 66.6 allowed within Big 12 games.
The Cowboys left themselves in prime position to qualify for the NCAA Tournament through the first half of Big 12 play, but have dropped five straight since a seven-point home victory against nationally-ranked BYU.
During the skid, Oklahoma State has allowed at least 81 points in all five contests, with Saturday’s 83-69 loss at Colorado the latest example of the Cowboys struggling to get stops.
The Buffaloes shot 48 percent, made 11-of-27 threes and had 20 of the game’s 28 assists, while the Cowboys were held to 38 percent shooting, made 5-of-23 triples and turned it over 15 times.
OSU gained a one-point second-half lead after overcoming a 17-point deficit, and the contest was tied as the 13-minute mark neared, before the Cowboys shot 3 for 21 the rest of the way.
“They did a good job defensively, but we missed some shots that we’ve made throughout the course of the season and we certainly had some costly turnovers where you get a chance to maybe go up two, three or four, and we shot ourselves in the foot unfortunately,” Cowboys’ head coach Steve Lutz said. “But it’s part of basketball and we have to get our heads up and figure out a way to beat West Virginia.”
The teams play at total opposite speeds, with WVU ranking No. 362 out of 365 Division I teams in adjusted tempo and Oklahoma State 10th in that category, according to KenPom.
Anthony Roy leads Oklahoma State in scoring at 17 points and the 6-foot-5 senior is among the better shooters in the Big 12 with 77 threes made at a 40.1 percent clip.
The Cowboys also possess a productive interior threat in Parsa Fallah, a 6-10 senior averaging 14.5 points and six rebounds while shooting 60 percent from the field.
Sophomore Vyctorius Miller is the team’s third player averaging double-figure scoring at 12 points, though he’s struggled of late, scoring 36 points over the last five contests.
There is a recent history between Hodge and Lutz. North Texas, then coached by Hodge, defeated Oklahoma State 61-59 in a NIT quarterfinal last season.
“You have opportunities, but you have to start taking advantage of them,” Hodge said, “because eventually your opportunities can run out.”