Oklahoma (13-7, 3-5 Big 12) defeated West Virginia (13-6, 2-5) 72-62 in Morgantown on Wednesday night.
Senior forward Tanner Groves scored 21 points, while junior forward Jacob Groves and senior guard Umoja Gibson added 12 each. The Sooners shot 51 percent from the field and forced 15 turnovers defensively.
Here are five final takeaways from OU’s win:
Sooners snap skid
Oklahoma collected its first win Wednesday night since defeating then-No. 11 Iowa State on Jan. 8. Following that third victory of the season against a top-15 opponent, OU dropped its next four games against Texas, TCU, Kansas and Baylor
The Sooners were buoyed by an offensive resurgence against WVU, scoring 72 points and shooting 35.7 percent from 3-point range, their highest since the win over Iowa State. OU scored 20 points off turnovers while shooting an efficient 21-for-22 from the free-throw line.
Head coach Porter Moser maintained throughout the losing streak that his group’s spirits hadn’t diminished and that he had confidence in his team despite the losses.
“We realize that every game is an opportunity,” Moser said postgame. “We came to practice, our preparation with the coaches… you credit the whole group, it was strength in numbers with the belief.”
— Tanner Groves (@tannergroves) January 27, 2022
Despite the recent losses, the Sooners entered their contest against the Mountaineers as a No. 10 seed in ESPN’s bracketology, which projects the NCAA Tournament field.
Tanner Groves catches fire
Tanner scored 21 points on 9-for-11 shooting, picking up his fourth 20-point performance of the season on Wednesday. The Sooners’ season leading scorer at 13.1 points per game had a rough three-game stretch against Texas, TCU and Kansas in which he averaged just 5.6 points.
“I felt like the last four games, me personally and just the team in general, we’ve been on a little bit of a skid,” Tanner said. “That happens from time to time… I’m able to realize that and bounce back.”
The Spokane, Washington native recovered vs. Baylor on Jan. 22, scoring 11 points and grabbing five rebounds, and enhanced his play further Wednesday night. Tanner has been durable, starting all 20 games, excluding vs. Kansas State on Jan. 1, when he was in COVID-19 protocols.
“The teams that we’ve played in the last four games or so have scouted me, as well as other teammates pretty hard,” Tanner said. “I think offensively and turnover wise, the last four games have been rough for us but we were able to turn it around and fight back.”
Harkless takes backseat
Senior guard Elijah Harkless only played four minutes against West Virginia, all of which came in the first half. Harkless picked up two fouls in that span and recorded no additional stats.
Prior to the Sooners’ win over the Mountaineers, Harkless’ season low in minutes was 21, which he recorded twice in blowout wins over UTSA on Nov. 11 and UT Arlington on Dec. 19. He had started all of Oklahoma’s 19 previous games and played 30 or more minutes in nine games. Harkless entered the matchup against West Virginia averaging 9.9 points per game and 4.6 rebounds per game.
"Tonight was a thing where I shook up the lineup,” Moser said. “I told (Harkless) ‘you’re going to play,’ he got in there and got two fouls. (Redshirt senior guard Marvin Johnson) was doing well and (Jacob) was doing well.
“Elijah’s going to be a huge part of what we’re doing.”
Jacob Groves shines in first OU start
With Harkless in a relegated role, Jacob started with his brother, Tanner, for the first time since their near upset of Kansas in March while with Eastern Washington. It also marked the first time Oklahoma started brothers since Blake and Taylor Griffin in the Sooners’ Elite 8 loss to North Carolina in 2009.
Jacob seized the opportunity, scoring a season-high 12 points while recording a season-high 26 minutes and collecting four rebounds.
“It was pretty incredible,” Tanner Groves said of his brother’s first start as a Sooner. “It felt like old times back at Eastern Washington, and it just felt great.”
Jacob hit a long range 3-point shot at the halftime buzzer as the West Virginia musket fired, and he buried an off-balanced, fadeaway 3-point shot with 7:24 remaining in the second half to beat the shot clock.
🚨 𝑱𝒂𝒄𝒐𝒃. 𝑮𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒔. 𝑩𝒖𝒛𝒛𝒆𝒓. 𝑩𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓. 🚨📺 ESPN2 | https://t.co/V9cjv0L3XA#BoomerSooner | #SCTop10 pic.twitter.com/ISwPzoxO6C
— Oklahoma Basketball (@OU_MBBall) January 27, 2022
His timely shooting was key to preserving Oklahoma’s lead, and ultimately helped OU secure its victory.
“I think Jake being in the starting lineup gave him a little bit of confidence,” Tanner said. “Moving forward, whether he’s in the starting lineup or not, I don’t think it matters to him… he’s a big team guy.”
Marvin Johnson carving out role
Johnson had spent most of the season on the bench after transferring from Eastern Illinois. He played only 22 minutes in 18 games until OU’s 65-51 loss to Baylor on Jan. 22, when he played nine minutes and scored five points.
Like Jacob, Johnson took full advantage of Harkless playing a minimal role against the Mountaineers. Johnson’s impact for the Sooners spiked against West Virginia, as he recorded season-highs with 21 minutes played, four rebounds and two assists. Additionally, he added six points, a block and a steal.
His block came at a critical moment, rejecting a layup attempt by West Virginia guard Taz Sherman that would’ve cut Oklahoma’s lead to five. Johnson texted Moser on Sunday morning following the Baylor loss requesting some one-on-one film time to continue improving his play.
“You can just see the way he cares right now in what he’s doing,” Moser said. “He’s on top of more of the details of the stuff we do… he has the athletic ability to do some things.”
Next, the Sooners take on No. 1 Auburn (19-1, 8-0 SEC) in the Big 12-SEC challenge at 1 p.m. CT on Saturday, Jan. 29 on the road.
