West Virginia
Ohio State takes on West Virginia
West Virginia Mountaineers (8-3) vs. Ohio State Buckeyes (7-2, 1-1 Big Ten)
Cleveland; Saturday, 8 p.m. EST
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Buckeyes -4.5; over/under is 143.5
BOTTOM LINE: Ohio State takes on West Virginia at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.
The Buckeyes have a 6-1 record against non-conference oppponents. Ohio State ranks ninth in the Big Ten with 16.4 assists per game led by Bruce Thornton averaging 4.2.
The Mountaineers are 8-3 in non-conference play. West Virginia is 3-3 against opponents with a winning record.
Ohio State averages 87.4 points, 29.0 more per game than the 58.4 West Virginia gives up. West Virginia has shot at a 45.4% clip from the field this season, 3.4 percentage points greater than the 42.0% shooting opponents of Ohio State have averaged.
TOP PERFORMERS: Thornton is shooting 62.3% and averaging 21.7 points for the Buckeyes. John Mobley Jr. is averaging 13.7 points.
Honor Huff is shooting 41.5% and averaging 17.3 points for the Mountaineers. Brenen Lorient is averaging 10.2 points over the last 10 games.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
Fast break
Why the Buffs lost: West Virginia’s defense locked down the Buffs in the second half, holding them to 21 points and forcing 10 turnovers.
Three stars:
1. West Virginia’s Jordan Harrison: Scored a game-high 18 points and racked up six steals.
2. CU’s Jade Masogayo: Finished with a team-high 13 points while also pulling down five rebounds.
3. West Virginia’s Gia Cooke: Scored six of her 12 points in the fourth quarter and also finished with three rebounds.
Up next: The Buffs host No. 14 TCU on Sunday (1 p.m., ESPN+).
Opportunities to beat nationally ranked opponents don’t come around often.
The Colorado women’s basketball team had one of those opportunities on Wednesday and let it slip away.
No. 20 West Virginia cranked up its defense in the second half and held on for a 61-55 victory against the Buffaloes at the CU Events Center.
“I’m disappointed in that one,” CU head coach JR Payne said. “I thought we certainly had our opportunities. West Virginia’s a really good team. I mean, they’re No. 20 in the country for a reason, but I think when we turn on the film, we’re going to see that there was a lot of really missed opportunities that were us, whether that’s lack of execution or soft passes or not executing or whatever.
“Games like this are super frustrating because it’s such a cool opportunity to have a great team on your home floor as you’re climbing in the rankings in the conference and all of that. So I’m pretty bummed about the outcome, but certainly we played hard. We competed.”
CU never (15-8, 6-5 Big 12) never trailed by more than nine and even that deficit lasted just 14 seconds. The Buffs also never seized the lead in the second half, as they struggled offensively against one of the best defensive teams in the country.
The Buffs trailed 37-34 at the half and scored just 21 points after intermission, going 7-for-28 (25%) from the floor with 10 turnovers in the final two quarters.
“I don’t think they did anything really differently,” CU guard Zyanna Walker said. “I think it was just us, like, just self-inflicted wounds; just us being unorganized and just being lackadaisical with the ball and just not catching the ball where we want to catch it and getting the shots that we want to get.”
Still, the Buffs stayed in the game because their own defense was solid. West Virginia came out hot in the first quarter (8-for-15, 53.3%), but was just 16-for-43 (37.2%) the rest of the way.
Jordan Harrison led the Mountaineers with 18 points, including going 3-for-3 on 3-pointers in the first half. As a team, West Virginia was 7-for-11 beyond the arc in the first half, but 0-for-7 in the second.
“We came in at halftime and we’re like, ‘Yeah, we got to guard the three better,’” Walker said. “So we definitely made that an emphasis in the second half.”
Rebounding also kept the Buffs close. They had a 39-33 advantage, led by Tabitha Betson’s season-high 10, and limited West Virginia to six second-chance points.
“Yeah, it was definitely a huge part of the game,” Betson said. “A big part of how they play is rebounding, offensive rebounding in particular. Us limiting their second-chance opportunities definitely kept us in the game and kept it close.”
Offensively, Jade Masogayo led the Buffs with 13 points, Desiree Wooten had 12 and Logyn Greer 11. All three, and Betson, hit big shots to give the Buffs a chance down the stretch, despite their overall struggles.
Betson hit a layup with 4:51 to play cut the Mountaineers’ lead to 52-50, but CU was just 1-for-8 from the floor the rest of the way, outscored 9-5 down the stretch.
“There’s lots of good things that happened,” Payne sad. “It’s just that everybody is so good (in the Big 12). I always say, you don’t have to play perfect basketball; not by any stretch. But the things that we can control, we have to control. And I think there’s some areas that we didn’t do that and that’s I think what bit us in the butt in the end.”
Notable
CU had a three-game losing streak snapped and lost at home for just the second time this season. … Walker finished with eight points, eight rebounds and two steals. … The two teams combined for 43 points in the first quarter. … Harrison, who leads the Big 12 in steals per game, at 2.9, had six against the Buffs. She has 18 steals in her last three games. … This was CU’s eighth consecutive game decided by nine points or less.
No. 20 West Virginia 61, Colorado 55
WEST VIRGINIA (19-5, 9-3 Big 12)
McCray 2-6 0-1 4, Wheeler 3-9 1-2 7, Cooke 5-11 1-2 12, Shaw 5-13 0-0 11, Harrison 6-10 3-4 18, Woodley 0-1 0-0 0, Thomas 0-0 0-0 0, Makalusky 3-6 0-0 8, Riviere 0-2 1-2 1. Totals 24-58 6-11 61.
COLORADO (15-8, 6-5 Big 12)
Masogayo 2-7 9-9 13, Dutat 1-2 0-0 2, Walker 4-11 0-0 8, McErlane 0-0 0-0 0, Betson 3-9 1-2 7, Wooten 5-15 1-4 12, Greer 4-7 2-2 11, Gooden 0-2 2-2 2, Nworie 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-53 15-19 55.
West Virginia 24 13 10 14 – 61
Colorado 19 15 8 13 – 55
3-point goals – WVU 7-18 (Harrison 3-4, Makalusky 2-3, Shaw 1-6, Cooke 1-4, Woodley 0-1), Colorado 2-9 (Wooten 1-3, Greer 1-2, Betson 0-2, Gooden 0-2). Rebounds – WVU 33 (McCray 10), Colorado 39 (Betson 10). Assists – WVU 7 (Shaw, Harrison 2), Colorado 9 (Wooten 4). Steals – WVU 11 (Harrison 6), Colorado 8 (Wooten 3). Turnovers – WVU 15, Colorado 17. Total fouls – WVU 19, Colorado 14. Fouled out – None. Attendance – 2,097.
West Virginia
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