No. 7 West Virginia faces surging Oklahoma State (Feb 04, 2017)
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- Brad Underwood acknowledges his Oklahoma State team wasn't hungry or tough enough to hang with West Virginia during their first meeting on Dec. 30.
A timid performance in Stillwater led to a 92-75 loss that still agitates the Cowboys as they enter Saturday's rematch.
"The first time we didn't compete," Underwood said. "We can look at a lot of things, but we didn't win one 50-50 battle all day. They beat us to the floor on every loose ball, and they outfought us on the glass, something we take pride in."
After six consecutive losses to open Big 12 play, Oklahoma State (14-8, 3-6) brings a four-game winning streak and resurgent NCAA Tournament hopes into WVU Coliseum. The No. 7 Mountaineers (18-4, 6-3) are on a three-game run themselves as the second half of the conference round-robin unfolds.
West Virginia won the previous five meetings by an average of 13 points, though it won't face the same overaggressive defense it exploited five weeks ago.
Underwood grew tired of seeing Big 12 opponents carve through his extended pressure, so he made the midseason switch to a backed-off, lane-clogging approach. The Cowboys improved from allowing 85 points per game during their 0-6 start to fewer than 69 points in their recent streak.
"Brad's really a pressure guy, but good coaches adjust," West Virginia's Bob Huggins said. "I think they got back-cut some so they packed it in and started playing inside the 3. They backed it up and now they don't take as many chances."
The Mountaineers are the Big 12's top-scoring team at 87.6 points per game, with Oklahoma State only one-tenth of a point behind, though their methods vary.
West Virginia spreads the offensive load across a rotation that goes 11 deep, and the Cowboys feature the league's No. 2, No. 3 and No. 11 scorers in point guard Jawun Evans (18.3), forward Jeffrey Carroll (17.2) and perimeter gunner Phil Forte (13.9)
The sophomore Evans tempered a career-high 11 assists with a career-worst five turnovers in the 17-point loss to West Virginia.
Like Iowa State's Monte Morris and Kansas' Frank Mason, he experienced how Press Virginia can foul up rhythm. Those three point guards have combined to shoot 13 of 39 against the Mountaineers this season, leading Huggins to wonder why his own point guard, Jevon Carter, doesn't receive more notice.
Carter's 2.95 steals top the country to go along with steady offensive production (11.8 points, 4.6 assists).
"For what we do, JC's as good as any point guard in the league," Huggins said.
Forward Nathan Adrian (11 points, 6.5 rebounds) scored a career-high 23 points during West Virginia's win at Iowa State on Tuesday, and Esa Ahmad (12.2 points 4.5 rebounds) hopes to build off an assertive three-game stretch in which he has gone to the foul line 31 times.
As of Friday, ESPN's Joe Lunardi projected a No. 10 seed in the NCAA Tournament for Oklahoma State, which has won back-to-back Big 12 road games at Texas Tech and Oklahoma.
The Bedlam rivalry win proved as hard to watch as it was satisfying: Oklahoma State missed 13 of its final 15 shots yet prevailed 68-66 when a scramble situation led to a Forte 3-pointer with nine seconds left.
