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.