OK State vs West Virginia Picks and Odds
- The West Virginia Mountaineers battle the Oklahoma State Cowboys in the Big 12 quarterfinals
- The Pokes beat the Mountaineers 85-80 Saturday in Morgantown in the regular season finale for both teams
- Read below for odds, analysis, and our best bet for this matchup
The No. 4 seed West Virginia Mountaineers (18-8, 11-6 Big 12), who went 2-2 over a four-game homestand to close out the regular season, take on the No. 5 seed Oklahoma State Cowboys (18-7, 11-7 Big 12) in the Big 12 Conference Tournament quarterfinals Thursday, March 11 in Kansas City.
Tip is set for 11:30am ET at the T-Mobile Center.
The two teams just played each other Saturday in Morgantown to close out the regular season. The Pokes beat Bob Huggins’ team 85-80. West Virginia beat OSU 87-84 in Stillwater Jan. 4.
Now, WVU is a slight favorite in the rubber match in KC.
Oklahoma State vs West Virginia Odds
| Team | Spread | Moneyline | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oklahoma State | +3 (-116) | +136 | O 151 (-110) |
| West Virginia | -3 (-106) | -162 | U 151 (-110) |
Odds taken March 10 at FanDuel
Full Strength
The Cowboys may be the lower seed, but they handled the Mountaineers on the road Saturday, with conference Player of the Year and potential No. 1 pick in the 2021 NBA Draft Cade Cunningham on the sideline, nursing a sprained ankle.
Sophomore Avery Anderson III scored a career-high 31 points and freshman Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe accounted for 18 on 7-of-10 shooting in a game that WVU head coach Bob Huggins said his team had zero bounce in.
The Mountaineers simply looked flat-footed at times, allowing 50 points in the paint and were outrebounded 38-29. Now, the Pokes are set to be at full strength for Thursday’s affair.
Cowboys coach Mike Boynton said Cunningham practiced Tuesday and will play Thursday ahead of what OSU fans hope is a deep run in the conference tourney. Boynton will also have starting shooting guard Isaac Likekele available. He’s missed the last four games dealing with foot and hand injuries. The junior from Arlington leads the team in rebounds (6.9 per game) and assists (3.7).
With Boynton getting reinforcements back, in the way of his two best players, look for Oklahoma State to try to take it to West Virginia once again.
What Now?
From the Mountaineers’ standpoint, Saturday’s performance was confounding. West Virginia could have put itself in the conversation for a possible No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament with a victory, not to mention pick up win No. 900 for Huggins at home. Now, the program has the unenviable task of matching up against a dangerous Cowboys team for the second time in six days. WVU fans had better hope for a better defensive effort Thursday at T-Mobile.
Tourney Time! #HailWV | @lgstores pic.twitter.com/RqpU84TJwz
— WVU Men's Basketball (@WVUhoops) March 10, 2021
Oklahoma State basically held a layup line on the blocks, making 24-of-34 layup/dunk attempts in the game. The Mountaineers just couldn’t stop penetration at all, allowing straight line drives throughout to an undermanned team on the road.
Taz Sherman lead all Mountaineers with 20 points in the five-point loss. while Derek Culver — who was named to the all-conference First-Team — had 14. OSU shot 57% from the field, while WVU shot 42%.
With the kind of lackluster outing the Mountaineers gave in Morgantown, you would think Culver and Co. would come out Thursday and play like the team rated No. 25 by KenPom (against the No. 36 Cowboys). But Boynton’s team might just be a bad matchup for Huggie Bear’s crew.
KC Masterpiece
Even in the head-to-head they won over two months ago, West Virginia needed a 19-point second-half comeback to stun the Cowboys in Stillwater. Cunningham had a game-high 25 in that one, while three WVU players (Culver, Sherman and Miles McBride) scored at last 20.
It’s hard to envision that happening again on the West Virginia side, while after resting Saturday, that type of game is very possible for Cunningham.
The Pokes are playing great basketball of late, hitting over 50% of their shots over the last three games and over 47% in the last six by moving the ball around well and attacking the rim. OSU’s only loss in the last month was an 81-70 loss to Baylor March 4 in Waco.
So, while Huggins is one of the great strategists in the game and Oklahoma State is young, I’m fading West Virginia in this spot. The Cowboys have too much momentum and too much talent.
The pick: Oklahoma State +3 (-116)
Blair Johnson is a veteran journalist and seasoned sports content creator. He has been writing and producing content as long as he can remember, with such familiar names as CNN, NFL Media and Yahoo. Blair currently lives and works in the greater Los Angeles area.
