Spread, Over/Under, & Predictions for West Virginia vs. Oklahoma State

Fourteen Big 12 contests down, four to go for West Virginia, and the squad will be back in action tonight in Stillwater to take on the reeling Oklahoma State Cowboys.

Is this the night WVU snaps out of its funk? Or will it be Oklahoma State that snaps out of theirs? My picks for tonight’s game are in.

Spread: Oklahoma State -1.5

Prediction: West Virginia covers.

In a game like this, I’ll take the points with West Virginia. The two are both in a rut right now, yet WVU is probably the more desperate team because it has much better odds of making the NCAA Tournament, although its own odds are very slim at this point.

Yes, the Cowboys are a much more polished product on the offensive end of the floor, averaging 83.6 points per game (29th nationally), but if you remove the overtime loss to TCU, they’re averaging just 65.2 points during this losing streak. That bodes well for West Virginia, which is going to defend at a high level, regardless of whether or not shots are falling. It also helps that Oklahoma State’s defense has been putrid this season, ranking 334th out of 365 teams in scoring defense.

Over/Under: 141.5

Prediction: Under.

Once again, we have a matchup of contrasting styles. Oklahoma State wants to ramp it up and throw the ball at the rim as much as possible. West Virginia, of course, does not want to play that way. In most games where this has been the case — Kansas State, Baylor, Texas Tech, UCF come to mind — they’ve still been low-scoring affairs. The Mountaineers have finished in the 50s in six of their last eight games, and I don’t see that changing even against a poor defensive club in Oklahoma State. It clearly didn’t matter against Utah.

Tip is set for 7 p.m. ET on NBC or CBS Sports Network. After the game, head over to our YouTube page (West Virginia On SI) for the Mountaineer Postgame Show, where we’ll take a look at the final numbers, talk about the positives, what needs to improve, and much more.

Note: Our predictions are not to be taken as gambling advice. These predictions are simply to give an opinion on what we think will happen in this week’s game.

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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