WVU Holds Off Oklahoma State
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MORGANTOWN -- In his three-year career with the West Virginia University men's basketball team, Gabe Osabuohien has never been known for his scoring ability.
He's a big body. Somebody who collects rebound after rebound. A 6-foot-7, 240-pound force who prevents opposing ball handlers from getting to the basket.
To the team's benefit, Osabuohien did all that and then some on Tuesday. He scored a season-high 12 points, hauled in eight rebounds and tallied two steals as the Mountaineers rolled to a 70-60 win over Oklahoma State.
"It's just an added bonus with all the great things that he does on the floor," forward Jalen Bridges said of Osabuohien's offensive performance. "A lot of the times, what he does doesn't really show up on the stat sheet. Him providing that extra little boost on offense, it makes things that much easier."
Four of Osabuohien's points came from the free-throw line, an area of the floor where the Mountaineers -- and especially Osabuohien -- have struggled to find success. The Mountaineers ended the night having missed only one shot from the spot, shooting 95% and marking the team's best performance of the season.
"We work on our free throws every day," Osabuohien said.
"It's been a major problem for us early in the season so, going on forward, we're aiming to shoot 80-90% every game if that's going to make a difference and make games easier."
Osabuohien was only one of four Mountaineers who ended the night scoring in double digits. Bridges led the team in scoring after tying his career high of 22 points, while Taz Sherman and Sean McNeil finished with 13 and 12 points, respectively.
Bridges scored 12 of his points in the second half, making him a critical piece to holding off an Oklahoma State surge. The Mountaineers were held scoreless for more than four minutes, allowing the Cowboys to trim their deficit down to single digits.
Eight consecutive points from Bridges helped push WVU's lead back to double figures, giving the team the necessary space to come out ahead when the game clock struck zero.
"I was just letting the game come to me instead of hunting shots," Bridges said. "I've been trying to play more aggressive -- there's a right way to do that, there's a wrong way to do that. I saw I wasn't making shots, so I started trying to get everything at the rim. I ended up getting to the foul line a lot tonight, and I was knocking them down."
The Mountaineers return to the floor on Saturday, hitting the road to take on the Kansas Jayhawks on Saturday. The matchup kicks off a tough four-game stretch for the Mountaineers, one that includes games against three teams that are currently ranked in the AP Top 25. Oklahoma, who WVU will face on Jan. 26, currently ranks No. 26.
"It's expected that we're ready to compete in the Big 12 every year," Osabuohien said. "I feel like, in our conference, there's not just one team that's unbeatable. It's anybody's race."
Bridges is undeterred by the challenging road ahead.
"I'm super excited to see where we can go with this team," Bridges said. "You can kind of tell that we're starting to really buy-in, we're starting to get that chemistry going. I think the sky's the limit for us, and we'll go as far as we want to go."
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