West Virginia welcomes the Oklahoma State Cowboys (8-4, 0-1) Saturday afternoon for the Mountaineers (10-2. 1-0) Big 12 Conference home opener. Tip-off is set for noon EST and the action will broadcast on CBSSN.
Fresh off one of the biggest wins in program history, the Mountaineers come back home to what should be an energized crowd waiting for them. You always have to wonder about the focus of a team that is just days removed from an exhilarating win, but Darian DeVries appears to have his group locked in.
The fact that they were able to beat Kansas without Tucker DeVries and Amani Hansberry says a lot. Whether or not they play today is anyone’s guess, but I’m not sure it makes much of a difference. DeVries is pushing all the right buttons at the moment and knows how to play to the strengths of the guys he does have available.
Oklahoma State is built very similar to West Virginia in that they don’t overwhelm you with size in the frontcourt, but they make up for it with good overall length, specifically with bigger guards. The biggest differences between the two teams are three-point shooting and defense. The Cowboys are 190th in the country in points allowed per game, while WVU is 21st. OSU is 205th in three-point shooting, down over 100 spots from the Mountaineers, who shoot it at a 35% clip from deep.
Give me West Virginia by ten.
Prediction record: 9-3
Oklahoma State head coach Steve Lutz quickly turned two programs around, winning three consecutive conference tournaments before turning his attention to Stillwater.
Lutz and the Cowboys have struggled in the early portion of the season and lack a marquee win. They are 2-0 in true road games, notching wins against Tulsa and Seton Hall – two programs that are under. 500. The Pokes have played two ranked opponents this season, with losses to rival Oklahoma and in their Big 12 home opener against No. 14 Houston Monday night, trailing by double digits at halftime in both contests.
Oklahoma States sixth-man, forward Marchelus Avery, leads the team in scoring, averaging 12.3 points per game.
West Virginia notched another NCAA tournament resume building win in its Big 12 opener at Kansas Tuesday afternoon and did it despite missing forwards Tucker DeVries and Amani Hansberry.
Head coach Darian DeVries has exceeded expectations in his first year in Morgantown, and keeping the team focused after grabbing the program’s first win at Kansas will be another BIG test for this group.
Senior guard Javon Small, who transferred from Oklahoma State in the offseason, leads the league in scoring at 19.2 ppg.
Lutz and DeVries were together as assistants as part of Doug McDermott’s staff at Creighton. DeVries mentioned Lutz’s group will look to get out in transition, something the Mountaineers have been able to keep at bay this season, including the win over Kansas on Tuesday.
West Virginia has shown they can turn the page after an upset. At the Battle 4 Atlantis midseason tournament, the Mountaineers knocked off a third-ranked Gonzaga team in overtime, then the following day played well in an overtime loss to Louisville and bounced back the next day with an OT win against Arizona.
DeVries has kept this group steady, and I suspect the Mountaineers will remain focused. West Virginia remains ahead of the Big 12 race with another gutty 75-65 win.
Prediction record: 8-4.
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Oklahoma City Thunder (40-13, first in the Western Conference) vs. Los Angeles Lakers (32-19, fifth in the Western Conference)
Los Angeles; Monday, 10 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Los Angeles hosts Oklahoma City looking to prolong its three-game home winning streak.
The Lakers are 21-12 in Western Conference games. Los Angeles is ninth in the Western Conference with 25.2 assists per game led by Luka Doncic averaging 8.6.
The Thunder are 30-9 against Western Conference opponents. Oklahoma City is the best team in the Western Conference allowing just 107.9 points per game while holding opponents to 43.3% shooting.
The Lakers make 49.9% of their shots from the field this season, which is 6.6 percentage points higher than the Thunder have allowed to their opponents (43.3%). The Thunder are shooting 48.7% from the field, 0.2% higher than the 48.5% the Lakers’ opponents have shot this season.
The two teams play for the second time this season. The Thunder defeated the Lakers 121-92 in their last meeting on Nov. 13. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 30 points, and Doncic led the Lakers with 19 points.
TOP PERFORMERS: LeBron James is averaging 21.8 points, 5.7 rebounds and 6.8 assists for the Lakers. Rui Hachimura is averaging 12 points over the past 10 games.
Cason Wallace is averaging 8.2 points and 2.1 steals for the Thunder. Chet Holmgren is averaging 15.6 points and 8.5 rebounds while shooting 53.3% over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Lakers: 7-3, averaging 115.4 points, 41.9 rebounds, 26.1 assists, 8.9 steals and 4.5 blocks per game while shooting 51.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 112.2 points per game.
Thunder: 5-5, averaging 114.9 points, 42.6 rebounds, 25.4 assists, 9.1 steals and 5.4 blocks per game while shooting 47.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 107.5 points.
INJURIES: Lakers: Deandre Ayton: out (knee), Luka Doncic: out (hamstring), Adou Thiero: out (knee).
Thunder: Ajay Mitchell: out (abdominal), Nikola Topic: out (groin), Jalen Williams: out (hamstring), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: out (abdomen), Thomas Sorber: out for season (knee).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Xzayvier Brown scored 14 of his 20 points in the second half and Oklahoma held off No. 15 Vanderbilt 92-91 on Saturday to end a nine-game losing streak.
Nijel Pack added 17 points for the Sooners (12-12, 2-9 Southeastern Conference) who had a 21-point lead with 12:03 left. Oklahoma shot 53.4% from the field.
Tyler Tanner led Vanderbilt (19-4, 6-4) with 37 points. Tyler Nickel added 18.
Nickel hit a 3-pointer with 1 1/2 minutes left to cut Oklahoma’s lead to 10. AK Okereke had a 4-point play to make it a two-possession game with 49 seconds remaining.
Oklahoma: Hosts Georgia on Saturday.
Vanderbilt: At Auburn on Tuesday night.
Find more Oklahoma coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.
History is on the line for Oklahoma on Saturday.
The Sooners, riding a nine-game skid, would match a program record for the longest losing streak with a loss to Vanderbilt. OU’s only team to ever lose 10 games in a row was the 1963-64 squad, but the 2025-26 team will get there if it falls to the Commodores.
OU’s current losing streak marks only the third time ever that the Sooners have lost nine or more games consecutively.
It won’t be easy for the Sooners to escape from their ongoing freefall on Saturday.
Vanderbilt, ranked No. 15 in the AP Top 25, is 19-3 overall and 6-3 in SEC play. The Commodores have won three games in a row — against Mississippi State, Kentucky and Ole Miss — after dropping three consecutive games against Texas, Florida and Arkansas.
Averaging 88.8 points per game and allowing only 72.9, Vanderbilt has the SEC’s best average scoring margin (15.9). The Commodores also rank first in opposing three-point percentage (28.6 percent), second in opposing field-goal percentage (41.2 percent), and third in three-point percentage (35.8 percent).
Location: Memorial Gymnasium (Nashville, TN)
Date: Feb. 7
Time: 2:30 p.m.
TV: SEC Network
Radio: 107.7 FM The Franchise
Vanderbilt has also been excellent at causing havoc while also limiting its own miscues. The Commodores have forced 298 turnovers while only creating 213 turnovers of their own. Their average turnover margin is 3.87 per game, which ranks second in the league behind only Georgia.
Guard Tyler Tanner has been Vanderbilt’s most consistent player, as he is averaging 17.8 points, 5.1 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 2.4 steals per contest.
The Sooners and Wildcats went back and forth for most of the first half, but Kentucky’s 15-2 run over the game’s middle 10 minutes allowed it to pull away.
OU went 3-of-15 on its first 15 attempts from deep, and guard Nijel Pack was held to only six points in 26 minutes, his second lowest total of the season.
The game was different from some of OU’s other losses during the skid. In defeats against Texas, Arkansas, Missouri and Alabama, the Sooners had chances to win in the final minute but fell short in each game. Against Kentucky, OU never got back within striking distance after the Wildcats’ middle-of-game run.
The Sooners were ranked No. 49 in the NET rankings on Jan. 4, the day after their win over Ole Miss to open conference play.
Now, more than a month later, OU is No. 85 in the NET, ahead of only Mississippi State and South Carolina from the SEC. Oklahoma’s chances to reach the NCAA Tournament as an at-large squad are all but gone, as the Sooners sit 11-12 and 1-9 with only eight league contests remaining.
OU’s only hope of making it to the Big Dance is by winning the SEC Tournament in March. While there is still over a month until then, the Sooners must begin generating momentum — and wins — to put together a competitive effort at the conference tourney.
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