WVU basketball: OSU free throws doom Mountaineers

The fouls caught up to the WVU basketball team once again. The Mountaineers were outdone by Oklahoma State at the foul line.

The Cowboys came into Morgantown and defeated the Mountaineers, 88-85. The WVU basketball team was whistled for 24 fouls, allowing OSU to attempt 36 foul shots. Oklahoma State was a smooth 30 of 36 from the line which ultimately gave it the win over West Virginia.

This is something the Mountaineers have basically gotten used to in the second half of the season. The abundance of fouls have haunted the WVU basketball team for the past few years, but the aggressive style of defense has also created a unique identity.

West Virginia was able to force 13 turnovers for OSU, but it only created four steals. Senior leader Jevon Carter only had one steal and in the past few games he has been flirting with double digits in the steals department. Down the stretch, the WVU basketball team faltered against OSU. Again, that has been an all-too-familiar trend.

On offense, the WVU basketball team was led by Carter, who poured in a career high 33 points. That’s spectacular and all, but when the Mountaineers were able to get some recent wins it was because of Carter taking a back seat and letting other playmakers rise up. He was dishing out assists and players like Lamont West and Teddy Allen were taking a bulk of the shots.

Carter is still the unquestioned star of the team, but he needed to find a way to win this one and he just didn’t do that in the end. Also for West Virginia, Esa Ahmad had 16 points and West finished with 10.

For Oklahoma State, five players reached double figures, led by 20 points from both Cameron McGriff and Kendall Smith. Only two players who appeared in the game for OSU did not score. It was a great offensive performance by the Cowboys which made things difficult even for West Virginia’s defense.

Next: All-time WVU basketball team

The Mountaineers are still alive in the hunt for a Big 12 title, but the road remains tough. The WVU basketball team plays TCU on Monday.