MORGANTOWN, W. Va. — No. 6 West Virginia will now have its eyes on Texas.
The 15th-ranked Longhorns travel to TCU at 7 p.m. Sunday, and the outcome of that game will determine the Mountaineers’ seeding in the Big 12 Tournament next week.
The Mountaineers lost out on their chance to finish second in the league by falling against No. 17 Oklahoma State on Saturday, 85-80.
Instead, Kansas will finish second and the Mountaineers (18-8, 11-6 Big 12) will have to wait to see how far they will fall.
If the Longhorns beat TCU, Texas and WVU will share the same 11-6 conference record and they split their two games during the regular season.
Texas wins the tiebreaker for the No. 3 seed, though, because the Longhorns swept Kansas and West Virginia split with the Jayhawks.
If Texas loses, WVU would earn the No. 3 seed.
If West Virginia were to fall to the fourth seed, the Mountaineers would play Oklahoma State for a second consecutive game in Thursday’s quarterfinals.
“We beat them at their place and they beat us here,” WVU point guard Deuce McBride said. “I’d love to get them again to get that edge over them.”
If WVU were to get the No. 3 seed, it would play sixth-seeded Texas Tech on Thursday. WVU swept the Red Raiders during the regular season.
No overlooking the Cowboys
WVU entered the game as a 10-point favorite and Oklahoma State was playing without its two top players in guards Cade Cunningham (ankle) and Isaac Likekele (hand).
WVU players said the loss was not a matter of taking the Cowboys lightly.
“I can’t speak for everyone, but for me personally, it didn’t make any difference,” WVU Taz Sherman said. “Their leading scorer was Avery Anderson (31 points) and I played against him in high school. I knew he was a capable player. Without their two main players, I knew he was going to try and take charge. He did that today. He destroyed us today.”
Cunningham and Likekele combined for 47 points when the two teams met back in January. WVU erased a 19-point deficit in the second half to pull out an 87-84 victory in that game.
“Maybe it was in our subconscious, but we were playing more for our seniors and play for Huggs,” McBride said. “Obviously, we let our teammates and Huggs down with this one, but we’re going to keep getting better. Now, games are even more important. We can’t do anything about this game anymore.”
News and notes
** WVU finished 5-6 against AP Top 25 teams during the regular season.
The 11 games tied a school record for playing the most ranked teams in one regular season.
Including the postseason, the school record is 14 games against top 25 teams.
** Derek Culver reached the 1,000-point mark for his career in the early moments of the second half.
With 18:30 remaining, Culver caught a high inbounds pass from McBride that caught Oklahoma State defenders off guard and Culver dunked it to give him 1,001 career points.
He finished with 14 points, giving him 1,006 for his career.
** Oklahoma State scored 50 points in the paint Saturday, giving the Cowboys a grand total of 98 in the two games played against the Mountaineers.
“We’ve been giving up 35 to 50 every day,” WVU head coach Bob Huggins said. “Every. Single. Day. We’ve worked on rotations. I thought we were starting to make some strides.”
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