11:33 am
March 11

Big 12 Tournament: #12 Oklahoma State v. #10 West Virginia

Who will WIN this matchup?

#12 Oklahoma State Cowboys (18-7)

#10 West Virginia Mountaineers (18-8)

 

Current odds:

Oklahoma State Cowboys: (+130)

West Virginia Mountaineers: (-150)

 

• The line for this game is West Virginia by 3 points.

• Conference Player of the Year Cade Cunningham is expected to return to action when No. 12 Oklahoma State faces No. 10 West Virginia on Thursday in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 championship in Kansas City, Mo. Cunningham is bothered by an ankle injury and missed Saturday’s 85-80 road win at West Virginia. An official update of his status is expected Wednesday.

• Cunningham averages 19.7 points, 6.3 rebounds and 3.5 assists for the fifth-seeded Cowboys (18-7). He also was named the Big 12’s top freshman to join Kevin Durant (Texas), Michael Beasley (Kansas State) and Marcus Smart (Oklahoma State) as players to sweep the league’s Player and Freshman of the Year awards.

• The fourth-seeded Mountaineers (18-8) have lost two of their past three games and the defense was problematic in each defeat. West Virginia sustained a 94-89 overtime home loss to then-No. 3 Baylor on March 2 in addition to Saturday’s setback.

• Second-team All-Big 12 choice Miles McBride leads West Virginia with a 15.3 scoring average. First-team selection Derek Culver averages 14.8 points and a team-best 9.8 rebounds. Taz Sherman (13.4) and Sean McNeil (11.9) also score in double digits. Sherman scored a team-best 20 points in Saturday’s loss to the Cowboys.

• The absence of Cunningham wasn’t an issue for Oklahoma State as Avery Anderson III stepped up to score a career-best 31 points on 11-of-14 shooting. Anderson had four points — all on free throws — when the Cowboys dropped an 87-84 home game against West Virginia on Jan. 4.

• Cunningham isn’t the only player ailing. The Cowboys haven’t had the services of Isaac Likekele (hand) in six of their past seven games. Likekele averages 9.8 points and a team-leading 6.9 rebounds. Also, Kalib Boone (9.9) is shooting 66.9 percent from the field and likely to break the Oklahoma State single-season mark of 62.5 set by Chianti Roberts in 1996-97.

• The winner of Thursday’s clash will likely face No. 2 Baylor (21-1) on Friday. In addition to their recent win over West Virginia, the top-seeded Bears defeated Oklahoma State twice this season by an average of 13 points.

5/10
Confidence
StreakSmarter Pick
#10 West Virginia Mountaineers
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