Outside of a somewhat stunning defeat to Texas, the West Virginia Mountaineers have been downright scary here when playing at WVU Coliseum. The Oklahoma Sooners could be in for a real fight on Saturday against the 'Eers.
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HOW THE OKLAHOMA SOONERS CAN COVER THE SPREAD
You really hate to say that the two-game losing streak for the Sooners is really on Buddy Hield, especially knowing that he's scored 40 points combined in those two games. However, it's becoming increasingly clear to us that if Hield isn't on his game night in and night out, Oklahoma is very beatable.
Even on a night where Isaiah Cousins scored 10 and Jordan Woodward had 25, the Oklahoma offense still wasn’t able to do quite enough against Texas Tech on the road on Wednesday night. Now all of a sudden, the Sooners have failed to cover four games in a row, and if they aren't able to get back into the high-70s in scoring routinely, they're in a heck of a lot of trouble.
HOW THE WEST VIRGINIA MOUNTAINEERS CAN COVER THE SPREAD
Jaysean Paige left Tuesday's game against Texas with an ankle injury, and if he isn't back in the fold, the Mountaineers are going to be in a lot of trouble. This is a particularly deep team, but Paige is the best of the offensive weapons. Let's not forget that Daxter Miles Jr. is out with a hamstring injury as well. That leaves just Devin Williams averaging more than 10 points per game.
Since the Mountaineers probably aren't going to win this game on offense, they're going to have to get the job done on defense. WVU has had some fantastic defensive games, such as when it allowed just 42 points against TCU. Around that though, Texas and Kansas both had fantastic offensive showings against the Mountaineers, and if Oklahoma is going to get into the 80s as well, this game isn't going to be all that close.
ANALYSIS AND ODDS PREDICTION
Playing on the road is tough, especially here in Morgantown, but Hield is the great equalizer here. Though there are plenty of guards who are capable of slowing him down defensively, there just aren't any who are going to keep up with his scoring production. Good offense is just going to trump good defense in this case, and Hield should end up getting back on track on Saturday.
If West Virginia had a fully healthy team, we'd perhaps think a little differently about this one. However, the home court advantage isn't enough for us to offset the difference of losing Paige and Miles.
Sure, it's tempting to want to back a team which is 7-2 ATS at home and has really crushed some lesser teams, but the Mountaineers haven't faced a team anywhere near this good at WVU Coliseum in the Big XII campaign since upsetting Kansas on January 12. This though, is a much different challenge against a team which badly needs to get back on a winning track after a couple straight losses.
Oklahoma 78, West Virginia 66
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