WVU Wins 12th Straight
Allen nets 15 as West Virginia rallies past OSU
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STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) -- West Virginia and Oklahoma State played to their defensive personalities Friday night, pressuring and harassing each other for 40 minutes.
The seventh-ranked Mountaineers maintained their profile, however, while the Cowboys faltered late at one of their greatest strengths – free throw shooting – allowing West Virginia to surge to its 12th straight win, 85-79.
Teddy Allen scored 15 points in his Big 12 debut, leading six West Virginia players in double figures. Allen scored 13 in the second half, helping the Mountaineers (12-1, 1-0 Big 12) erase a seven-point deficit.
"(My teammates) were getting me ready and just telling me, it's a whole different game than the games we've played," Allen said. "I kind of just mentally prepared and had some good practices. I was ready."
Oklahoma State (10-3, 0-1) got 17 points each from Jeffrey Carroll and Tavarius Shine, but the Cowboys made just 11 of 19 free throws in the second half, after entering the game as the nation's No. 2 free throw shooting team (80.5 percent).
Carroll, an 80.6 percent free throw shooter, missed five of 10 shots from the line in the second half.
"I really don't miss free throws like that," Carroll said. "Just focus."
The Mountaineers got 13 points from Sagaba Konate, 12 each from Javon Carter and Daxter Miles Jr., 11 from Lamont West and 10 from James Bolden
Both teams claim defensive identities – and it showed, as each reached a season-high for turnovers. West Virginia forced 21 turnovers and Oklahoma State 18, and the teams combined for 22 steals.
"They play a hell of a D," Miles said. "They play great defense, but I think we started executing offense toward the end of the game when we needed it most."
BIG PICTURE
West Virginia: The Mountaineers appeared in trouble, trailing by nine in the first half and seven after intermission, but grinded their way to the win in typical fashion – with their attacking defense. They won a road Big 12 opener for the fifth time in six years.
Oklahoma State: Picked for last in the Big 12 preseason poll, the Cowboys have played well in Mike Boynton's first season as coach. Each of their three losses have come against top-10 teams: No. 5 Texas A&M, No. 7 West Virginia and No. 8 Wichita State. Pushing the Mountaineers to the end should give them confidence going forward into conference play.
UP NEXT
West Virginia remains on the road and won't even return to Morgantown, instead heading to Manhattan, Kansas, for a New Year's Day game against Kansas State. The Mountaineers annually open the Big 12 schedule with back-to-back road games, designed to kick out two trips before school resumes from holiday break.
Oklahoma State stays in state, but heads on the road nonetheless, visiting No. 12 Oklahoma on Wednesday.
No. 2 MICHIGAN STATE 111
CLEVELAND STATE 61
EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- Nick Ward had 22 points and 14 rebounds, and No. 2 Michigan State rolled, the third straight game for the Spartans with over 100 points.
The Spartans led 63-25 at halftime after shooting 74 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes -- including 9 of 13 from 3-point range. Michigan State (13-1) is making short work of the weaker opponents on its schedule. The Spartans scored 107 points against Houston Baptist and 102 against Long Beach State.
Joshua Langford scored 23 points for Michigan State, and Miles Bridges added 18 with eight rebounds and seven assists.
Bobby Word scored 26 points for Cleveland State (3-10) and made seven 3-pointers.
No. 11 KANSAS 92, TEXAS 86
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Devonte' Graham had 23 points and eight assists, converting six 3-point baskets, for Kansas in the Big 12 opener for both teams.
Kansas (11-2, 1-0 Big 12), which converted 17 of 35 3-point attempts, including 11 in the second half, won a conference opener for the 27th consecutive season.
Lagerald Vick scored 21 points, making a career-best five 3s. Svi Myhailiuk added 20 points, hitting five 3-pointers.
Sophomore center Udoka Azubuike had 13 points and a career-best 13 rebounds for Kansas.
Kansas has won 13 of its last 14 games against Texas, including eight in a row.
Freshman Mohamed Bamba led Texas (9-4, 0-1) with 22 points, 15 rebounds and eight blocks, all season bests.
No. 16 KENTUCKY 90, LOUISVILLE 61
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander came off the bench to score a career-high 24 pointsa and PJ Washington added 16 for Kentucky in the annual showdown for Bluegrass supremacy.
The Wildcats (10-2) used a 20-6 run to close the first half. Their 24-11 surge over 8:41 built a 67-38 lead that eventually reached 32, a gap helped by 57 percent second-half shooting.
Kentucky earned its biggest series win since a 76-46 rout in the 1999-00 season.
Deng Adel had 13 points for Louisville (10-3).
No. 22 TEXAS TECH 77, No. 18 BAYLOR 53
LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) -- Keenan Evans scored 18 points and freshman Zhaire Smith added 15 in his Big 12 debut as Texas Tech won in the conference opener for both teams.
Jarrett Culver finished with 13 points and Niem Stevenson had 11 points and a game-high five assists for the Red Raiders (12-1, 1-0 Big 12) in the first meeting out of 135 with both of these longtime conference rivals ranked.
Mark Vital scored 12 points for the Bears (10-3, 0-1), who were missing Big 12 rebounding leader Jo Lual-Acuil because of a left foot sprain. Baylor was outrebounded 39-21, including 22-8 in the first half while falling behind 40-19.