Vegas Line at this writing: Oklahoma -6 (No total at writing)
With ESPN featuring Indiana at Wisconsin as their prime time game, we’ll travel down the dial to the “deuce” for a much more competitive Big 12 matchup between West Virginia at Oklahoma. Since getting blown out on the 17th at Texas, the 18-3 No.15 ranked Mountaineers have won three straight including a 77-58 beat down of Texas Tech in their most recent. Since losing four of five in mid-January, the 14-7 No.21 ranked Sooners have won two straight including a huge 64-56 (+2.5,132) road win at interstate rival Oklahoma State.
This is a rematch of a January 13th game that saw West Virginia (-4,141) spank Oklahoma 86-65 in Morgantown. In this game, the Mounties turned the Sooners over 22 times, dominated the offensive glass 14-7 and got 55 points from their bench with 11 players scoring. Jevon Carter led WVU in scoring with 18 points off the pine while stater Devin Williams chipped in with 14/11. Buddy Hield led Oklahoma with 21/8. Since West Virginia joined the Big 12, Oklahoma is 4-2 SU and ATS in the series with the over 4-1-1. West Virginia has lost both trips to the Lloyd Noble Center by double-digits. Big 12 home favorites of six or less are 12-7 ATS in conference play.
West Virginia: This is Bob Huggins eight year at West Virginia but this is arguably his best and most proto-typical Mountaineer team. It’s his first Mountie team that plays Huggins defense that way he wants to be played with players that can score the basketball. In fact, in Big 12 play, West Virginia creates turnovers on 31% of
opponent possessions. Juwan Stetin leads WVU in scoring at 14.8 per (down from 18.1 ppg. last year) while PF Devin Williams gives you 11.3/8.8 in the paint. The Mountaineers have a very deep bench with seven players
averaging 6+ ppg. on right about 20 minutes of playing time.
Oklahoma: The Sooners are 3-1 in their four conference home games with their wins coming by 10-17-45 points, the loss to Kansas State. Junior shooting guard Buddy Hield leads four Sooners scoring in double-digits with 17.5 ppg. Hield also knocks down 37.7% of his shots from beyond the arc. Isaiah Cousins chips in with 12.0 ppg and connects on 45% of his threes. Gonzaga transfer Ryan Spangler does the dirty work on the glass ripping down 8.0 rebounds and game. The Sooners also play excellent team defense holding opponents to just 37.5% from the field and a stingy 29.5% from beyond the arc. Coach Lon Kruger is one of the most underrated head coaches in America and holds the distinction of being the only coach in Division I to take five different programs to the NCAA tournament.
Allen’s Angles
The Mountaineers are 9-3 ATS facing defensive teams allowing LESS than 64 ppg.
West Virginia is 13-20 L33 as a dog but 3-1 this year
The Over is 19-12 in the Mounties L31 vs winning record
The Under is 4-1 this year off a West Virginia conference win
Oklahoma is 5-1 in their L6 as a home favorite of 3-6 points
Oklahoma is 6-12 L18 avenging a same season loss of 20+ points
The Sooners are 23-11 ATS in their L34 home games, 6-2 this year
The Over is 17-8 in the Sooners l25 true home games, 4-2 this year