MORGANTOWN, W. Va. — At the going rate, Big 12 teams are going to begin to welcome West Virginia into their arenas with open arms.
It may just mean some type of career game from 3-point range for them.
The latest to experience it was Oklahoma junior guard Umoja Gibson, a transfer from North Texas.
Gibson came off the bench to go 4 of 7 from behind the arc in the first half for 14 points and then went 4 of 5 in the second half from 3-point range and finished with a season-high 29 points in the Sooners’ 75-71 victory against No. 9 WVU on Saturday.
“I want us to play the way that everyone is used to seeing us play and what other teams fear when they play us,” WVU head coach Bob Huggins said. “And that’s we’re going to take things away. We’re going to play harder than our opposition. We didn’t do that. We went about as deep as we could go on our bench in the first half just to try and find someone who would play hard.”
The Mountaineers gave up 16 3-pointers in a loss at Kansas on Dec. 22, which is tied for the most 3-pointers a team has ever made in a game against WVU in school history.
The Sooners (6-2, 2-1 Big 12) added 11 more on Saturday. In 11 games, the Mountaineers (8-3, 1-2) have given up 80 threes. Only Kansas State has allowed more among Big 12 teams.
Against Oklahoma, WVU guard Taz Sherman said the Mountaineers were over helping to one side of the floor, “which that left (Gibson) open a little longer than we typically would want to have him,” Sherman said. “He’s a good shooter. He has that reputation of being a knock-down shooter and he has the home court advantage. I’ll give him credit and I’ll give Oklahoma credit, they did a good job of coming off pick-and-rolls and finding him.”
Tale of two halves
In falling behind by 18 points in the first half, WVU freshman Jalen Bridges made four shots, while the rest of his teammates made three.
The second half was a different story, as the Mountaineers erased the deficit after shooting 9 of 14 from 3-point range.
“The first half, I felt like a couple of shots I took were forced and the same thing for the team,” said Sherman, who made four 3-pointers and scored 19 points. “We were taking quick shots instead of the right shot. We moved the ball and shared the ball more in the second half.”
WVU finished with 14 threes, the most its had in a game since Nov. 18, 2018, when the Mountaineers connected for 15 against St. Joseph’s in the Myrtle Beach Classic.
“We just played harder,” Huggins said of the second half. “I thought Taz played really well and made some hard shots.”
Riling up Derek Culver
Huggins said after the game he believed Oklahoma had a plan to try and frustrate WVU forward Derek Culver with constant double teams, as well as with some extracurricular activity.
“To a degree, I do feel sorry for him, because they do foul him a lot,” Huggins said. “They were jumping in front of him while he was running down the floor, which was smart on their part, because it kind of got him out of his element a little bit.”
Culver finished with just two points on 1 of 4 shooting and finished with six rebounds.
He and Oklahoma guard Austin Reaves were whistled for a double technical foul with 5:44 left in the first half when Reaves cut off Culver while they ran down the floor and Culver shoved him away.
Without teammate Oscar Tshiebwe in the lineup — Tshiebwe left the team for personal matters — Culver was also constantly double teamed throughout the game.
“The reality is he’s going to get doubled, so he’s got to deal with it,” Huggins said. “All the great centers who have ever played the game have gotten doubled. You learn to deal with it and he hasn’t learned to deal with it.”
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