MORGANTOWN — Malik Curry said the plan against Oklahoma State was to try and force the Cowboys into becoming a jump shooting team.
That plan went awry in the early moments of the second half, in which Oklahoma State scored 12 of its first 16 points inside the paint on its way to an 81-58 victory.
“The way you start a game and the way you start the second half are very important,” said Curry, who had 13 points in the loss. “Going into the second half, it was still close, but that first five to seven minutes, they went on a crazy run. That was tough on us. Coach (Bob Huggins) definitely got on us about that.”
It began with Isaac Likekele muscling his way through the lane for a lay-up, which was quickly followed by Kalib Boone hauling in a behind-the-back pass from teammate Bryce Williams for a dunk.
Also in the run was a 30-foot lob pass from Williams to teammate Tyreek Smith for another dunk.
Oklahoma State made seven of its first 10 shots in the second half to run out to a 52-32 lead with six of those shots being either a lay-up or dunk.
“That was very critical,” Huggins said.
For the game, Oklahoma State held a 40-16 advantage in points in the paint.
Frustration from Gabe Osabuohien
For a second consecutive game, WVU forward Gabe Osabuohien was whistled for a technical foul.
Unlike in Tuesday’s win against Iowa State, Osabuohien didn’t stop with just one. Instead, he picked up two in a matter of seconds.
He was ejected with 1:18 remaining in the game against Oklahoma State after arguing with officials over a call along the sidelines, when the ball hit off a referee while Osabuohien was attempting to corral it.
On his way back to the locker room, Osabuohien stopped and talked with Huggins and neither appeared happy with what was said. Huggins started yelling at Osabuohien, as WVU associate head coach Larry Harrison pulled Osabuohien toward the locker room.
“Gabe continues to run his mouth,” Huggins said. “He’s been told and told and told that it’s not going to continue, but he continues to do it. He got away with it early, but you get tired of it. You get tired of someone squawking at you.
“It’s 100% his fault. He’s been told. I’ve told him, Larry has told him, the officials have told him. They’ve tried talking to him, but it hasn’t ended it.”
Battle of the boards
Oklahoma State came away with a 48-24 rebounding advantage, with 14 of those being offensive rebounds.
That number seemed to stagger Curry in the postgame press conference.
“You said it was 48 to 24?” he asked in disbelief. “Honestly, I have no comment about that.”
It was the Mountaineers’ largest rebounding deficit of the season and tied for the most rebounds grabbed by an opponent. Oakland also had 48 in the first game of the season.
News and notes
** WVU shot 31.7% for the game (19 of 60), the third time this season the Mountaineers have gone below 32% in a game.
** Oklahoma State forward Moussa Cisse finished with a career-high 18 points and he also added 10 rebounds for his third double-double of the season.
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