MORGANTOWN — Toby Okani possibly did some of his best work of the season Saturday.
Big things. Little things. They all mattered to WVU, which got a much-needed win over Utah, 72-61, in front of 13,166 fans inside the Coliseum.
It was the type of victory that keeps the Mountaineers (15-8, 6-6 Big 12) in a position to carve out their space in the NCAA tournament come March, the type of win that escaped WVU in recent weeks against the likes of Arizona State, Kansas State and TCU.
From an offensive standpoint, Javon Small and Amani Hansberry were not going to let that happen again.
“We held (Small) to just five shot attempts, but it’s a credit to him, because I think he’s really evolving,” Utah head coach Craig Smith said. “He just makes the right play almost all the time. We’re trying to take the ball out of his hands, but the big one tonight was Hansberry. He hit three threes tonight. Other guys made plays.”
They grabbed the spotlight, Hansberry with his 17 points and seven rebounds and Small with his 14 points and eight assists, while going just 2 of 5 shooting, but a perfect 9 of 9 from the foul line.
Both were critical in helping WVU pull away from Utah (13-10, 5-7) late in the first half and then keeping the Utes at a safe distance in the second half.
And then there was Okani. Maybe it was a bit fitting that the Coliseum was decked out in a Coal Rush, because he made an impact doing a lot of the dirty work.
Diving on the floor, forcing a bad pass, grabbing a crucial rebound — these were the parts of the game Okani found himself taking care of.
“A lot of the stuff he does doesn’t show up on the stat sheet,” WVU guard Joseph Yesufu said. “He’s a very integral part of our team. He does a lot of the dirty work for us, and I feel like he doesn’t get enough credit for it. The energy he brings is huge for us.”
Actually, it was a mixture of both fundamental play and athletic feats that got him into the heat of the action.
WVU needed all of it from its 6-foot-8 forward, an all-Missouri Valley defensive pick last season, who has shown bursts of offense this season.
Okani’s day began with a long two-pointer, a shot that was just inches away from being marked a 3-pointer.
Then came some of the plays that really mattered, an offensive rebound by Okani among a taller and physical Utah frontline turned into a quick 3-pointer by Yesufu.
The Mountaineers also surprised Utah with a full-court press on one possession and Okani forced a bad pass that was intercepted by Small, who quickly got the ball back to Okani for a dunk.
There was a back cut from Okani that caught the Utes off guard for a lay-up, but the block was the highlight of it all.
In the closing seconds of the first half, Utah center Lawson Lovering — all 7-foot-1 of him — had worked his way into the paint and had a dunk coming his way.
From the opposite side of the lane flew in Okani, blocking the shot, which set him up for his 3-pointer seconds later.
“I thought in the first half, he was terrific,” WVU head coach Darian DeVries said. “He had that big block and came down and hit a three. He had a huge offensive rebound that he just snagged above everyone else and kicked it out to Joe for a three. Then he had a play right in front of our bench on a loose ball that he dove for and came up with.
“Those are the types of things Toby can do. When he puts his mind to it, those types of winning plays he can make. He had a huge impact, especially in the first half.”
Okani finished with nine points, four rebounds, two blocks and two steals.
“That’s where the buy-in comes from,” DeVries said. “Javon is our leading scorer, but we need more than Javon to win games. The buy-in to want and go and do those tough things, maybe it doesn’t get noticed every night, but you can impact the game without even scoring a basket.”
There were other heroes for the Mountaineers, who host BYU on Tuesday. Yesufu came off the bench and added 14 points off 6 of 10 shooting.
WVU shot 48.1% from the floor (25 of 52), while breaking the 70-point barrier for the first time in eight games.
Utah was led by Keanu Dawes, who had a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds, but the Utes got no closer than five points of the lead in the second half.
Jonathan Powell nailed a three and Small then added to his total with two free throws with 1:50 remaining, and WVU’s cushion was safe the rest of the way.
