MORGANTOWN — The eventual offensive spark came about midway through the first half, but that wasn’t exactly the story behind WVU’s 69-50 victory against Oklahoma State on Saturday.
At least, not from the words spoken by Cowboys head coach Steve Lutz.
“Hats off to West Virginia,” he began. “Defensively in the first half, that was a phenomenal job on their part. They turned us over. They got us out of what we were doing. They deserve all the credit for that.”
Defense and West Virginia — it’s been a few years since those two have gone hand-in-hand — but the Mountaineers (11-2, 2-0 Big 12) are certainly looking the part lately.
After holding Kansas to its lowest point total of the season (61) earlier in the week, WVU put out its encore performance by holding Oklahoma State to just 33.3% (18 of 54) from the field and the Cowboys’ 50 points was the lowest against WVU in a Big 12 game since Jan. 23, 2021, when Kansas State was held to 47.
The secret? Without getting too technical, WVU’s version of a pack-line defense is keeping opponents from getting easy drives to the basket and forcing them to make outside shots.
“We want to make sure we’re keeping people out of the paint, which requires being in the gaps,” WVU head coach Darian DeVries said. “We also want to be tough and physical of not letting catches out on the wings especially. That takes time to grow into as a defense.
“I think they’re growing as a defense in being able to be aggressive and disruptive, but also in not getting spread out and now there’s driving lanes.”
WVU, which is undefeated in Big 12 play through the first two games for the first time since Jevon Carter was a senior at the school, had to gut this one out on defense early.
The game was an ugly fist fight through the first nine minutes, until Jonathan Powell and Javon Small began trading 3-pointers that took a rough-to-watch 10-4 game into a sudden 22-6 runaway.
“I think it really was just about sticking to what we know we can do and trusting our offense,” said Powell, who finished with 17 points after going 5 of 7 from 3-point range. “Everybody knows what everyone else can do, but the main thing was our defense. Our defense led to our offense and kept us going.”
WVU’s defense forced 17 turnovers and scored 20 points off them. The highlight was Small — he had a double-double with 24 points and 11 rebounds — knocking the ball away from Robert Jennings just above the foul line and Sencire Harris tracking it down and flipped it back to Small for a dunk.
That play gave WVU a 27-7 lead and forced Oklahoma State (8-5, 0-2) to call timeout.
“You can’t run offense if you turn the basketball over, and they turned us over,” Lutz said. “It’s very simple, it’s a simple game. If you give the other team more possessions than you, you are not going to win the game. Our guys weren’t strong with the ball. They had deflections and they turned those into turnovers and points.
“I give them credit. Man, they were very good in the first half.”
The Cowboys made a run in the second half, cutting a 28-point deficit to as little as 13 with five minutes remaining, but the fact Oklahoma State finished just 3 of 21 (14.3%) from 3-point range meant it had no real shot of closing the gap quickly.
Which is the other part of WVU’s defense. While the Mountaineers have been good at keeping opponents from getting downhill, opponents are also not making threes.
WVU’s opponents are now shooting just 27.4% from 3-point range on the season, which is the leader in the clubhouse so far among Big 12 teams.
“I think with this group, especially defensively, we have great versatility,” DeVries said. “We’ve got good athleticism there. The guys do a good job of being able to be in a gap, but also be there on the catch. That takes a talent and some time for them to get there. This group has figured it out fairly quickly.”
Eduardo Andre — in his second start —finished with 10 rebounds for WVU, which hosts Arizona on Tuesday. Harris added nine points and five rebounds and three steals.
