NORMAN, Okla. (AP) - It'd been briefly since Kristian Doolittle was Oklahoma's top hostile choice.
The Sooners required it Saturday and Doolittle conveyed, scoring 27 focuses and getting 12 bounce back as Oklahoma knocked off No. 13 West Virginia 69-59 at home Saturday.
Doolittle hadn't scored in twofold figures in three weeks yet it didn't take him long to get moving in all out attack mode end against the Mountaineers.
At an early stage, it was at the free-toss line as the Sooners battled to hang in the game even as West Virginia ruled the sheets early.
Yet, at that point Oklahoma's solitary senior truly got moving.
In a 17-2 first-half run that lifted the Sooners from a deficiency to an important lead in a six-minute range, Doolittle scored eight focuses.
He hit two 3-pointers in that stretch, his first makes from behind the bend since Jan. 14.
"Individuals weren't guarding me," Doolittle said. "It arrived at a point where it resembles, 'I should shoot.' Then when you begin making them, they need to strategy you a great deal in an unexpected way.
"It makes the game a mess simpler when you're a risk from profound."
The senior assumed a job in helping break West Virginia's press, routinely bringing the ball upcourt.
The Mountaineers have been known for their weight barrier since Bob Huggins showed up however this year it hasn��t been as large of a piece of their protective arrangement.
"We are not awesome at it or we would do it more," Huggins said.
Doolittle said his certainty was raised from the beginning.
"In the event that I was open, simply shoot it in any case on the off chance that I was going to make it or miss it," he said. "Just to have a next-shot attitude. I feel like that was in my mind the previous scarcely any games however (with) the certainty that the instructing staff and my partners ingrained in me, I had the option to turn out over here with a crisp personality."
With Doolittle in a funk, Oklahoma had inclined vigorously on Brady Manek in all out attack mode end.
Manek had a difficult time of it against West Virginia, shooting only 1 of 6 from inside the 3-point line to complete with 11 focuses.
For the second back to back game, Huggins wasn't content with his group's exhibition.
Wednesday against Iowa State, it was the Mountaineers' sans poor toss shooting that incensed Huggins.
Against Oklahoma, it was his group's powerlessness to complete at the edge.
West Virginia was only 11 of 31 on layups in the misfortune.
"Appears to be incomprehensible, however we missed 22 shots inside two feet of the bushel," Huggins said.
West Virginia shot a season-most noticeably terrible 31.6% from the field. Prior to hitting five sequential 3-pointers to end the game, the Mountaineers were 1 of 10 from past the circular segment.
Huge PICTURE
Oklahoma: While the Sooners' NCAA Tournament continue was strong yet not awesome heading into the game, they were in urgent need of a mark win. Oklahoma is amidst a stretch where they play six of eight games against groups either positioned or one spot out of the survey. The success was the first for the Sooners against a positioned rival this season.
West Virginia: The Mountaineers dropped to 1-3 out and about in Big 12 play. West Virginia remains firmly in the NCAA Tournament field however they're entering an unpleasant week on the timetable, with No. 1 Baylor out and about after a midweek home game against No. 3 Kansas.
Detail LINES
West Virginia came into the game No. 4 broadly in bouncing back edge, driving the Big 12 and averaging in excess of nine a bigger number of bounce back per game than its adversaries.
Oklahoma was No. 264 in the nation and by toward the end in the class in the classification.
West Virginia commanded the sheets early, outrebounding the Sooners 14-7 in the principal 9:35 of the game.
In any case, from that point onward, Oklahoma made something happen, outrebounding the Mountaineers 35-27 the remainder of the best approach to beat West Virginia on the glass, 42-41.
It was only the fourth time this season West Virginia had been outrebounded.
UP NEXT
West Virginia has No. 3 Kansas on Wednesday. The Jayhawks beat the Mountaineers, 60-53, on Jan. 4 in the two groups' Big 12 opener. West Virginia is 5-1 against Kansas at home since 2014.
Oklahoma has Iowa State on Wednesday. The Sooners fell 81-68 at the Cyclones on Jan. 11. Oklahoma hasn't beaten the Cyclones since 2018.
No comments:
Post a Comment