STILLWATER – Oklahoma State is looking to bounce back from its close loss to No. 4 Kansas, 69-67, in Allen Fieldhouse this past Saturday as the Pokes are set to host No. 24 West Virginia on Big Monday.
Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT in GIA and will be televised on ESPNU, with Mark Neely and Chris Spatola on the call.
It was a tough way to end a great game on Saturday as the Pokes came up short against No. 4 Kansas, dropping them to 8-5 on the season.
On the flip side of things, the Mountaineers are 10-3 to start the season, 0-1 in Big 12 play like the Pokes as they dropped their season opener on the road to Kansas State in overtime, 82-76.
The two non-conference losses came against ranked opponents, No. 24 Purdue 80-68, and while they weren’t ranked at the time, 84-74 to Xavier in the Big 12-Big East Battle. Xavier’s currently ranked No. 22 in the AP, but that’ll change soon as they beat No. 2 UConn over the weekend, 83-73.
It was 6-9, 225-pound senior forward Tre Mitchell who led things for the Mountaineers against K-State, as he dropped 16 points on 5-of-12 shooting from the field. He also led in rebounds with 13, 10 of which came on the defensive side of the court.
On the season, Mitchell’s second on the scoring and rebound sheet with 13.1 points and 5.3 boards per game. It’s senior guard Erik Stevenson who’s leading the way in scoring for WVU, as he’s posting 13.9 points per game on 50% shooting from the field. He’s also deadly from beyond the 3-point line as he’s shooting 45% on 27-of-60 shooting.
As a team, the Mountaineers are averaging 80.9 points per game, while holding opponents to 67.5 points. They’re shooting nearly 49% from the field per game, while also shooting 37% from 3-point range, but they’re averaging just 7.5 threes per game. They’re also outrebounding opponents by a slim margin, 35.7 boards per game to 31.3 for their opponents.
They’re winning the turnover battle as they’re forcing 16.4 turnovers per game, compared to committing just 12.8 turnovers, while taking advantage of the forced turnovers by averaging nearly 19 points going the other way.
