Norman — Things simply didn’t look good for Oklahoma with 8:13 remaining in the first half. The Sooners were shooting 23% from the floor, had coughed up seven turnovers and trailed West Virginia 18-12. Heading into the media timeout, they had missed 10 of their last 11 shots.
Coming out of the break, OU coach Porter Moser made a switch. He inserted forward Jalon Moore into the game as the big man and put Luke Northweather in at power forward.
That seemed to give Moore and the Sooners a spark. They immediately rattled off a 12-2 run to take a 24-20 lead, with Moore contributing six points and a steal during that stretch.
Two of those points came on yet another highlight dunk from Moore.
By the time the Sooners entered halftime they led by five points and never trailed again, eventually cruising to a 77-63 win over the Mountaineers on Wednesday at Lloyd Noble Center.
While Moore got some big help from his teammates, he was the catalyst. He finished with a game-high 16 points (7 of 11 shooting) to go with five rebounds, two assists, a steal and a game-high plus-minus of plus-18, and he also scored four points to help the Sooners open the second half on a 10-5 run.
But his biggest moment came in that first-half run.
“He’s been doing that all year,” Moser said. “He got in the flow. We put Luke in and we were setting the ball screen with him and we kind of changed that up and that’s when he got the dunk. And we got two or three things out of that. He got deflections. He got rebounds. He got a big offensive rebound. He’s just all over. He’s a weapon against the zone. We threw that lob against them.
“So just his energy was contagious and I thought he did a nice job with that. Really helped us.”
— The Sooners really struggled offensively to start the game but eventually found a rhythm, finishing 25 of 51 (40%) from the floor and 22 of 30 from the free throw line. The Sooners shot 63% in the second half.
— Otega Oweh was great to start the year, but it’s been a bit of a struggle in non-conference play. Through four games, he’s averaging 10 points per game while shooting 12 of 41 (29%).
Against the Mountaineers, he finished with 12 points on 5 of 16 shooting, but he missed his first eight attempts. He did lead all players with five steals and led the Sooners with 10 rebounds.
That’s been the message to Oweh from Moser: If the shot’s not falling, find other ways to make an impact.
“It’s the biggest thing we just pointed out as well. He started out 0-for-8, and then he ended 5-of-16. So he’s five for his last eight (shot attempts),” Moser said. “But he still had 10 rebounds and five steals. That’s not having your offense dictate your defense when you started out 0-of-8. Just told him to keep going strong. Get to that foul line. But you got to keep defending. You gotta be a relentless defender… He was getting it done on that end.”
— It was a quiet night for Javian McCollum, who finished with 7 points (2 of 4 shooting) to go with two rebounds and four assists. He did, however, finish with four turnovers, and he’s committed 16 over the last three games.
— After a couple of off shooting nights, Rivaldo Soares bounced back with 13 points. It was a bounce-back game for the Sooners bench as a whole, as John Hugley (7 points) and Le’Tre Darthard (3 points, 3 rebounds, 1 steal) gave some good minutes.
“At this point of the season, every team has it — people start getting hurt, and you got to have some type of depth in order to be good,” Soares said. “The teams that don’t really have a lot of depth tend to struggle toward the end of the season. With the second shift, we come in and uplift our guys, give them a break, go as hard as we can, and then they give us a break.”
— After being mostly limited the last two games, the Sooners finally found opportunities in transition. They held a 13-0 advantage in fast-break points, which helped give the Sooners 40 points in the paint.
Another big help? The Sooners won the rebounding battle 33-19, including a 10-3 advantage on the offensive glass.
“Like coach says, rebounding is the admission ticket to transition,” Moore said. “So, we really take that to heart. We’re going to go get the boards. It’s important.”
— Turnovers continue to be an issue for the Sooners, who finished with 18 against the Mountaineers. Fortunately for them, the Mountaineers committed 15 of their own.
Up next: Saturday at Cincinnati (12 p.m. CT, ESPN+)
