Oklahoma and West Virginia could meet in the opening round of the Big 12 Tournament.
First things first, though: The Sooners and Mountaineers will face off Tuesday night in Norman, Okla.
Both teams are in desperation mode as the regular season winds down, their promising non-conference starts wiped out by struggles in Big 12 play.
Oklahoma (15-14, 5-11) is looking to gain some momentum coming off Saturday’s 66-62 overtime win over Oklahoma State. That victory snapped a four-game losing streak.
West Virginia is looking to avoid its second seven-game losing streak of the season.
But while Mountaineers coach Bob Huggins has expressed plenty of frustration about his team this season, he’s been striking a more hopeful note recently.
“We’re not dead yet,” Huggins said. “We’re close, but we’re not dead yet.”
During their current six-game slide, the Mountaineers (14-15, 3-13) have lost by five points or less on three occasions.
Huggins particularly is hopeful about his young players, including redshirt freshman Isaiah Cottrell. He struggled against the Sooners the first time around, however.
Cottrell made just 1 of 6 shots from the floor and finished with three points in Oklahoma’s 72-62 win at West Virginia on Jan. 26.
“The sky is the limit for that guy,” Huggins said. “He just has to continue to work and get in the weight room and do the right thing.
“He’s a talented kid.”
The earlier meeting was the first time Jacob Groves had started for the Sooners. He moved from a reserve role to replace the then-struggling Elijah Harkless in the lineup.
Groves has taken an even more prominent role over the last three games after Harkless suffered an undisclosed season-ending injury.
Since Harkless’ injury, Groves is shooting 50 percent from the field and 38.4 percent from 3-point range. Before that, he was shooting 41.1 percent from the floor and just 21.7 percent from beyond the arc.
“I know I’m a good shooter, and so I’m just going to let it fly and shoot the ball and hopefully knock down some big shots, get some rebounds and just help us win,” Groves said. “That’s kind of what I’m here to do, make winning plays and help our team win.”
–Field Level Media
