MORGANTOWN — The only gesture from Erik Stevenson this time against Oklahoma State was his hand raised in the air in victory.
It came after another physical clash against the Cowboys ended Monday night with an 85-67 blowout victory inside the Coliseum.
One game after going for 27 points in a loss against Texas Tech, Stevenson scored 23, while going 5 of 6 from behind the arc, in what was his sixth game of the season with at least 21 points.
“I think the key to the game was we limited our turnovers,” Stevenson said. “We had nine, which might be a school record. We had 28 points off their turnovers to their four. You could say that was the game. You could probably say a lot of things were the game. It was just a good overall effort on both ends of the floor for 40 minutes.”
His run began early with a 3-pointer that was held up after a review, and then a curious moment came just minutes later.
After Oklahoma State guard John-Michael Wright scored on a jumper, Stvenson was summoned to the bench where he, ahem, exchanged words with WVU head coach Bob Huggins.
“I guess he thought I was talking back, when all I was asking if we’re going over or are we going under (screens),” Stevenson said. “I’m never going to win that battle. We subbed out and he lit into me a little bit. I didn’t like it, but we’ve got that relationship. It was literally nothing.”
When he finally got back into the game, WVU (16-12, 5-10 Big 12) had taken a 10-point lead.
Stevenson made it bigger.
First, there was a step-back jumper followed by two more threes. All of it came during a 16-0 run that gave the Mountaineers a 32-14 advantage.
It basically became academic after that, as the Mountaineers ended a three-game losing streak, while handing the Cowboys (16-12, 7-8) their third-straight defeat.
It may have been academic, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t hostile.
Midway through the second half, once WVU’s lead was still comfortable at 58-41, WVU forward Tre Mitchell and Oklahoma State forward Kalib Boone got into a tussle near mid-court and both players wrestled to the ground.
Both players were whistled for technical fouls, which also meant Boone had reached his fifth personal and fouled out. Oklahoma State guard Woody Newton was also ejected for coming off the bench and running onto the floor during the skirmish.
“It was just two competitive guys going after the basketball,” Mitchell said. “I felt like I got hit some type of way. It is what it is. What you saw at the end of it was it was all good. There was no excess anything with it.”
It was a stark difference from the two schools’ first meeting back on Jan. 2 — for both Stevenson and WVU — that saw the Cowboys hold on for a 67-60 lead.
In that game, Stevenson became a sort of hero and then a scapegoat almost at the same time.
He had nailed three consecutive 3-pointers in the second half to get the Mountaineers back in the game, but then also got whistled for a technical foul after gesturing to former Oklahoma State star Marcus Smart in the crowd and then fouled out.
That was all part of an early 0-5 start for WVU to begin Big 12 play, but the Mountaineers have since battled to get back into contention for an at-large spot in the NCAA tournament.
Monday’s victory will keep WVU in the discussion, but two crucial road games are approaching against nationally-ranked Kansas and Iowa State.
Those games could either make or break the Mountaineers’ case for inclusion.
As for Monday, the Cowboys made just one of their first 17 3-point attempts and committed 18 turnovers, a sign of how much they missed senior guard Avery Anderson — out with a wrist injury — who had 13 points in the first meeting.
“I thought this was our best defensive effort of the year,” Huggins said. “Probably our most complete effort of the year.”
Meanwhile, Stevenson also had teammates back him up, as the Mountaineers were efficient when they had to be, finishing 29 of 66 (44%) from the floor.
Tre Mitchell added a season-high 22 points and Kedrian Johnson added 12 before fouling out late in the game.
Caleb Asberry led Oklahoma State with 15 points.
“We had a long talk about, basically, what we have left and what happens if we win and what happens if we lose,” Huggins said. “Ijust think they were ready, because they gave one away prior. We’ve got three more to go and we’ve got to see what we can do with those three.”
Box score
West Virginia 85, Oklahoma St. 67
OKLAHOMA ST. (16-12)
Boone 2-2 0-0 4, Asberry 3-8 8-9 15, Newton 1-2 2-2 4, Thompson 5-13 3-3 14, Wright 2-13 3-4 7, Cisse 3-4 2-5 8, Williams 2-3 0-0 4, C.Harris 0-1 0-0 0, Smith 1-4 7-11 9, Brown 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 20-52 25-34 67.
WEST VIRGINIA (16-12)
Bell 1-3 2-4 4, Matthews 2-9 4-4 9, Mitchell 8-15 6-7 22, Ke.Johnson 4-8 3-4 12, Stevenson 8-15 2-2 23, Okonkwo 1-3 0-0 2, Toussaint 0-3 3-4 3, Ko.Johnson 1-2 0-0 2, Wague 3-3 0-0 6, Wilson 1-5 0-0 2, Suemnick 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-66 20-25 85.
Halftime—West Virginia 40-21. 3-Point Goals—Oklahoma St. 2-19 (Thompson 1-4, Asberry 1-5, C.Harris 0-1, Newton 0-1, Wright 0-8), West Virginia 7-17 (Stevenson 5-6, Ke.Johnson 1-2, Matthews 1-3, Ko.Johnson 0-1, Mitchell 0-1, Toussaint 0-2, Wilson 0-2). Fouled Out—Boone, Ke.Johnson, Okonkwo. Rebounds—Oklahoma St. 34 (Cisse, Williams 7), West Virginia 33 (Bell, Matthews, Stevenson, Okonkwo 5). Assists—Oklahoma St. 7 (Wright 3), West Virginia 12 (Toussaint 4). Total Fouls—Oklahoma St. 24, West Virginia 23. A—11,874 (14,000).
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