Oklahoma
No. 15 Oklahoma surges past West Virginia in second half, rolls to 77-63 win – WV MetroNews
Struggles in the second halves of games have stymied West Virginia throughout the season. The familiar script was on display at the Lloyd Noble Center Wednesday evening as the Mountaineers fell to Oklahoma, 77-63.
West Virginia allowed 48 second half points and the Sooners made 14-of-22 shots from the floor after the intermission.
“We weren’t there tonight,” said WVU head coach Josh Eilert on the MSN postgame radio show. “We were a step slow and our minds were a step slow. Our bodies were a step slow. We couldn’t get the 50-50 balls.
“[Oklahoma] played a good game. They didn’t play an extraordinary game. A lot of this was on us.”
The first half was tightly-contested throughout the 20 minutes. Oklahoma led by four points on three different occasions, including a 6-2 early cushion. WVU took an 11-8 lead after back-to-back baskets from Pat Suemnick. He scored nine points and pulled down a team-best seven rebounds, making his third consecutive start. Suemnick made his only two field goal attempts.
A 3-pointer from Kobe Johnson extended the WVU lead to 16-12 with 8:40 to play in the half.
Oklahoma (14-3, 2-2 Big 12) used an 8-2 run to gain the lead and they took a 29-25 lead into the locker room.
The Sooners built a 10-point lead before the second media timeout of the second half at 44-34.
Noah Farrakhan delivered an explosive slam dunk with 12 minutes to play to pull the Mountaineers within 12 points at 49-37. However, he was assessed a technical foul following the play and Javian McCollum made both technical free throws to extend the OU lead to 14 points.
N😳AH @_4seazonz pic.twitter.com/qqqL6KDdzY
— WVU Men’s Basketball (@WVUhoops) January 18, 2024
Following that sequence, Oklahoma built their lead to a game-high 19 points at 61-42 with back-to-back buckets from Otega Oweh. Oweh scored all 12 of his points in the second half.
WVU trimmed their deficit to 12 points with two minutes to play after a transition layup from Quinn Slazinski. However, the Sooners made six consecutive free throws in the next 40 seconds to extend their lead back up to 18 points.
Jalon Moore led Oklahoma with 16 points. McCollum and Rivaldo Soares each added 13 points. OU had six players score at least eight points. The Sooners scored 40 points in the paint and they outrebounded WVU 33-19.
“We didn’t rebound it whatsoever,” Eilert said.
“I tell these guys over and over, ‘If we can’t convert some fast break points and get some second chances, it is a struggle’. We had two fast break points and six second chance points. Only one guy on the floor got an offensive rebound, that was Pat Suemnick and he got three.”
Farrakhan led the Mountaineers with 14 points. RaeQuan Battle added 12 points and Slazinski chipped in with 10 points for West Virginia. Josiah Harris scored eight points. WVU connected on just 7-of-23 shots from 3-point range.
Battle made 4-of-13 shots from the floor.
“He is just trying to help in any way he can,” Eilert said. “We’ve got to get it out of his hands. He’s got to understand that we’ve got the advantage on the back side if we can get it out of his hands. He’s got to make that right pass.”
This was West Virginia’s last scheduled meeting with Oklahoma before the Sooners before they leave for the SEC next season. The Mountaineers (6-11, 1-3 Big 12) will return home to host No. 3 Kansas (15-2, 3-1 Big 12) Saturday at 4 p.m.
Oklahoma
Oklahoma Ford Sports Blitz: Mar. 1, 2026
Steve McGehee reports live from Paycom Center with the latest on SGA’s return after missing nine games, the Thunder’s push to hold the top spot in the Western Conference, and what getting healthy means for OKC’s title hopes.
Oklahoma
How Oklahoma GM Jim Nagy ‘Put More Around’ John Mateer During Offseason
Oklahoma general manager Jim Nagy experienced great success during his first year in Norman.
Nagy, who joined OU’s staff in February 2025, oversaw the Sooners’ scouting staff as Oklahoma reached the College Football Playoff for the first time since 2019. He also helped OU sign a top-15 2026 recruiting class and land several key transfer portal players after the 2025 season.
Though the wins outweighed the losses in Nagy’s first year, the Sooners’ general manager knew that there was much to fortify during the offseason.
Oklahoma’s offense sputtered late in the season, as the Sooners scored fewer than 25 points in each of their last four games.
For Nagy, a major focus was surrounding OU quarterback John Mateer with quality talent.
“(We wanted to) just really put more around John Mateer,” Nagy said on The Dari Nowkhah Show on KREF on Friday.
Nagy and his scouting team added plenty of pieces from the portal that should elevate Oklahoma’s offense.
The Sooners signed three portal wideouts — Trell Harris (Virginia), Parker Livingstone (Texas) and Mackenzie Alleyne (Washington State) — after the 2025 season to join returning receivers Isaiah Sategna, Jer’Michael Carter and Jacob Jordan.
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Sategna, who transferred to OU from Arkansas after the 2024 season, served as Mateer’s safety net in 2025. The receiver finished the year with 965 yards and eight touchdowns on 67 catches.
Harris and Livingstone are both proven producers at the Power Four level, and Nagy believes that those two will make OU’s receiving corps stronger in 2026.
“Those two, we’re very excited about both of those guys,” Nagy said.
Nagy also did plenty of work to ensure that OU’s run game improves in 2026.
The Sooners added three tight ends — Hayden Hansen (Florida), Rocky Beers (Colorado State) and Jack Van Dorselaer (Tennessee) — from the portal. They also added three transfer offensive linemen: Caleb Nitta (Western Kentucky), E’Marion Harris (Arkansas) and Peyton Joseph (Georgia Tech).
OU will have its two top running backs from the 2025 squad, Xavier Robinson and Tory Blaylock, back in 2026.
For those two to reach their full potential, the Sooners’ blockers will have to regularly open up running lanes — and Nagy is confident that they will.
“We have to run the ball better, there’s no way around that,” Nagy said. “Our job is to create more competition in every room in the offseason. I feel like we’ve done that.”
On the show, Nagy revealed that the Sooners added nearly 9,000 collegiate snaps to their roster during the offseason.
The general manager believes that both sides of the ball will be stronger as a result of his scouting team’s offseason efforts and their collaboration with OU’s coaching staff.
“I’ve tried to be really intentional with our communication,” Nagy said. “There’s a common goal: We’re trying to win a national championship. This is a true partnership, and we all have the same goal in mind. It’s going to continue to evolve and get better.”
Oklahoma will open its 2026 season against UTEP on Sept. 5.
Oklahoma
Elgin’s Ritson Meyer becomes four-time Oklahoma high school wrestling state champion
Elgin’s Ritson Meyer becomes four-time OSSAA wrestling state champion
Elgin’s Ritson Meyer beat Coweta’s Aiven Robbins 8-7 in the Oklahoma high school wrestling Class 5A 215-pound finals on Saturday, Feb. 28, becoming a four-time state champion.
The loss was on Ritson Meyer’s mind all week as he prepared for his final state wrestling tournament.
A senior 215-pounder at Elgin, Meyer isn’t used to getting beaten, but he got a wake-up call when he lost against Coweta senior Aiven Robbins by five points in their regional championship match.
For Meyer, it set in that winning his fourth state championship wouldn’t be an easy task.
“I lost to him last week and I’m not a loser, so it was eating on me all week in practice,” Meyer said. “So (in) practice, I really leveled up everything. Everything about it.”
Meyer and Robbins met again on Saturday, this time with the Class 5A state championship on the line.
Intensely focused from the start, Meyer came out aggressive. And although it was another great match, Meyer did just enough to etch his name in the state history books.
Meyer held on to beat Robbins in an 8-7 decision in the new OG&E Coliseum as he claimed his fourth state championship, while Coweta won the team title.
An Abilene Christian football signee, Meyer’s wrestling days are over, but he leaves the sport with satisfaction.
“I came out here — even though it hurt, even though I was tired — I got it done,” Meyer said. “I’m so happy. I got to celebrate with my parents, my family, my friends. It’s a crazy feeling.”
A standout running back and linebacker on the gridiron, Meyer helped his team win the Class 4A state title in football as a junior before Elgin lost to Tuttle 23-20 in the 2025 championship game in December.
It’s a different sport, but that loss fueled Meyer’s wrestling season in a way.
“I like to tell people that wrestling is like offseason football,” Meyer said. “I can’t go out, lose. Everybody wanted me to win this. I won it for the whole entire community. First four-timer at Elgin. And that football (loss) really did eat me alive. It didn’t feel good at all, and I didn’t want that same feeling again.”
Meyer had a great start against Robbins on Saturday and never trailed, but Robbins battled to set up a great finish and both were gassed when it was over.
“I just gave it my all,” Meyer said, “and I got it done.”
This article will be updated.
Nick Sardis covers high school sports for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Nick? He can be reached at nsardis@oklahoman.com or on Twitter at@nicksardis. Sign up forThe Varsity Club newsletter to access more high school coverage. Support Nick’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing adigital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.
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