Moussa Cisse scored a season-high 18 points and added 10 rebounds as Oklahoma State had a dominant showing inside to earn an 81-58 Big 12 victory over West Virginia on Saturday afternoon at Stillwater, Okla.
Leading by six at halftime at 36-30, the Cowboys (12-12, 5-7) turned up the defensive pressure and ran away from the Mountaineers (14-10, 3-8) in an explosive first six-plus minutes of the second half.
Oklahoma State ran the court and used fastbreaks to outscore West Virginia 16-2 after the break to gain full control in the second matchup between the teams.
The Mountaineers cut the deficit to 58-46 with 7:03 remaining but had no answer for Oklahoma State’s inside game.
The Cowboys owned a 48-24 rebounding advantage and outscored West Virginia 40-16 in the paint.
The victory allowed the Cowboys to avenge a 70-60 road loss to West Virginia on Jan. 11 to split the season series.
Cisse connected on 8 of 12 shots in his third double-double, and Avery Anderson III added 18 points and seven rebounds. Bryce Thompson had 13 points for Oklahoma State.
The Cowboys won for the second time in three games and evened the all-time series between the teams at 11-11.
West Virginia’s Malik Curry notched 13 points, while Taz Sherman and Sean McNeil each produced 12 as the Mountaineers shot just 31.7 percent (19 of 60).
West Virginia led 19-12 midway through the first half, primarily behind a strong showing at the foul line.
The Mountaineers were good on just 5 of 13 of their shots from the field in the first half, but went 7 of 9 from the free-throw line.
The Cowboys were more aggressive on both ends of the court and went on a 7-2 run over the final 4:50 of the half to grab a 36-30 lead at the break.
Anderson had 12 points in the first 20 minutes for Oklahoma State, which shot 50 percent from the field and connected on 12 of 16 free throws. The Cowboys held an early 20-4 advantage in paint points.
McNeil paced West Virginia with nine points, but the Mountaineers made only 9 of 27 first-half field goals.
–Field Level Media
