JEFF ALLEN GAME PREVIEW: WEST VIRGINIA vs. OKLAHOMA
Two of the top teams in the country and very possibly two Final Four teams square off tonight in Big 12 quarterfinal action
in Kansas City as (25-7, 13-5) West Virginia takes on (25-6, 12-6) Oklahoma in what figures to be the feature game of the
night. The Sooners swept both regular season games winning 76-62 (+4.5) at Morgantown and 70-68 (-4.5) at Norman.
Two of college basketball’s top coaches go at it in Bob Huggins and Lon Kreuger while the game itself features the Mountie
full court pressure vs. potential College Player of the Year, Oklahoma’s Buddy Hield. The line opened at Oklahoma -1 and
and 147.5 and hasn’t moved as of this writing. This is the late game on ESPN2 with a 9:30 PM EST tipoff.
West Virginia is a swarm that just keeps coming at you. It’s typical Huggins pressure defense that that capitalizes on getting
easy transition points off turnovers. The Mounties have six players that average better than 9.3 ppg. starting with Jaysean Paige
who is the leading scorer at 14.2 ppg. despite playing just 22 minutes per. Devin Williams is a 6’9″ 255 PF that gives you
12.9 points and 9.2 boards per game. Fresh bodies going 150% for short bursts .. next. The Mountaineer rotation goes at
least eight deep and you’ll see all kinds of combinations going in and out.
Oklahoma goes as Buddy Hield goes. The 6’4″ shooting guard (25.6, 5.6, 2.1) is arguably the premier shooter in college
basketball knocking down 47% of his shots from behind the arc. Hield is off a monster game last night where he scored
39 of his team’s 76 points in the Sooners quarterfinal win over a tough Iowa State outfit. Isiah Cousins (12.9) and Jordan
Woodward (12.6) also knock down better than 40% of their shots from downtown giving Oklahoma one of the top perimeter
games in the country. This is a veteran bunch whose time is now.
As previously mentioned, Oklahoma won both regular season games. West Virginia won it’s first Big 12 tournament game
ever last night with just one player playing more than 30 minutes so this team is fresh as a daisy. West Virginia has won five
straight overall and appears to be peaking at the right time. Oklahoma is just 5-10 L15 in this tournament, a tourney that it
hasn’t won since 2003. Again, the Sooners are a veteran bunch which figures to be key in handling the Mountie pressure.
Two very good teams, two great coaches in a virtual pick’em game on a neutral court with a ton on the line. Sit back and enjoy
what may very well be an instant classic!