Slow start proves costly in loss to West Virginia

Saturday, January 4

Morgantown, W.Va. / WVU Coliseum

11:00 AM

Oklahoma State University

8-5,0-2Big 12

West Virginia

11-2,2-0Big 12

Oklahoma St.

West Virginia

Photo by: OSU Athletics

January 04, 2025 | Cowboy Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Postgame Notes (PDF)

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- Oklahoma State's second half rally fell short in a 69-50 loss at West Virginia on Saturday afternoon.

Marchelus "Chi Chi" Avery scored 15 points and Abou Ousmane added a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Cowboys (8-5, 0-2) who chopped 15 points off a 28-point second half deficit before running out of steam.

Former Cowboy Javon Small paced West Virginia (11-2, 2-0) with 24 points and 11 boards. He scored 18 of his points in the first half when the Mountaineers used a 22-1 run to turn a 10-6 lead into a 32-7 cushion.

West Virginia started 1-of-8 from three before knocking down 7-of-11 after the 11:00-mark.

Jonathan Powell (17 points) and Small each hit a pair of triples in a 22-1 run that turned a 10-6 Mountaineer lead into a 32-7 cushion with 6:06 remaining in the half.

The Cowboys were just 2-of-18 from the field when Avery ripped off eight straight points to help snap OSU out of its funk. He made the second of back-to-back threes to cut the deficit to 32-15 with a little less than 5:00 to play in the half.

The Mountaineers finished the half on another 16-4 push to go into the break ahead 46-19.

OSU shot 25% in the first half and a 27-point halftime deficit matched its largest ever in a Big 12 contest.

The Mountaineers upped their lead to 28 (55-27) with 13:47 to play but went scoreless over the next six-and-a-half minutes.

Ousmane, who scored 12 of his 14 points after halftime, sank the first two baskets in a 17-2 Cowboy counter that cut the margin to as little as 13 points with 5:36 to play.

WVU finished the game at 41.8% while making 11-of-30 threes (.367). The hosts scored 20 points off 17 OSU turnovers and added 19 more second chance points off of 12 offensive rebounds.

OSU shot 33.3% of the game, hindered by a 3-for-21 effort from beyond the arc, and made a season-low 11 free throws on 20 attempts.

It was the Cowboys' first true road loss of the season after a 2-0 start.

OSU is back home Tuesday night to take on Kansas State at Gallagher-Iba Arena. Tipoff is 7 p.m. CT and the game will air on ESPN+.