CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) -With West Virginia’s biggest bodies fouling out, Oklahoma’s bigger bodies took control.
The Sooners rode the inside tandem of Blake Griffin and Longar Longar to an 88-82 win over No. 23 West Virginia in double overtime Saturday night.
Griffin had 18 points and 16 rebounds and Longar had 22 points for Oklahoma. He played just five minutes in the first half because of foul trouble.
Oklahoma (10-3) outscored West Virginia 15-9 in the final overtime, with Longar accounting for eight points over the final five minutes after two frontcourt starters for the Mountaineers – Da’Sean Butler and Jamie Smalligan – fouled out.
“What a great college basketball game,” Oklahoma coach Jeff Capel said. “West Virginia is a very good team. I think we are becoming a very good team. It was a heck of a win for us.”
As good as the frontcourt was, it was the Sooners’ backcourt that impressed WVU coach Bob Huggins. Austin Johnson scored 13 points and dished out nine assists, and David Godbold added 18 points and seven rebounds.
“Their guards won the game,” Huggins said. “They were able to penetrate, and when we had to play help defense that let their post players score.”
Joe Alexander led West Virginia (10-2) with 21 points, Alex Ruoff added 17 and Butler 15.
Oklahoma was 20-of-32 from the field in the final 30 minutes, and the Sooner shot 53.7 percent overall.
Ruoff’s putback basket with less than a second remaining in regulation sent the game into overtime, where the Mountaineers took an early five point lead. But Tony Crocker’s 3-point basket for Oklahoma evened the score at 73, forcing a second overtime period.
The Sooners then outlasted WVU, with guard David Godbold making a pair of free throws to give Oklahoma a six-point lead. The Mountaineers missed all four of their free throws in overtime.
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