Sooners steal a turnover-filled victory from the Mountaineers in Morgantown.

The Oklahoma Sooners men’s basketball team put an end to a four-game slide Wednesday night with a 72-62 victory over the West Virginia Mountaineers in Morgantown. The win brought OU’s overall record to 13-7 and 3-5 in Big 12 play.

The Sooners and Mountaineers collaborated on a contest that often looked like a weekend matchup at the local gym between elementary school teams. There was lots of falling. Passes flew around the court to no one in particular, and catching the ball was the ball cleanly was far from a given. Balls caromed out of bounds off dribblers’ feet. Layups were thrown over the rim, while free throws banked off the backboard.

In the end, OU’s top guns proved too much for West Virginia to handle. Big man Tanner Groves pumped in 21 points on 9-of-11 shooting from the field. He also led the Sooners with six rebounds. Forward Jacob Groves and guard Umoja Gibson each chipped in 12 points for the game.

Coach Porter Moser’s team got a major boost at the free-throw line, knocking down 21 of 22 attempts for the game. The Sooners also enjoyed a 32-26 edge in total rebounds over the hardscrabble Eers, who played the choppy brand of basketball that has become a calling card of legendary coach Bob Huggins. The teams combined for 32 turnovers in the game.

Even though it was one to forget for Huggy Bear, one of West Virginia’s favorite sons was actually coaching in his 500th game as head coach of the Mountaineers since he took the job in 2007. The milestone would have felt even worse for Huggins if forward Gabe Osabuohien hadn’t played his best game of the season. The reserve from Canada set a new career high in points with 17 to lead the Eers.

Even so, WVU’s struggles on the offensive end left the team at the mercy of the Sooners, who showed a knack for exploiting the Mountaineers’ aggressiveness on defense. Only six of OU’s 23 made field goals came from outside the lane, as the team made a point of taking WVU defenders off the dribble and attacking the rim.

Unfortunately, OU’s team won’t have much time to celebrate the upset road win. The Sooners head to Alabama next to tangle with the No. 1 team in the country, the Auburn Tigers, as part of this weekend’s Big 12-SEC challenge. After that interlude, they get back to taking on conference opponents with a home date against the TCU Horned Frogs.

New offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby is taking a new approach to QB recruiting.

The Oklahoma Sooners have secured the quarterback for their 2023 recruiting class after securing a commitment from consensus four-star prospect Jackson Arnold of Denton (Texas) Guyer.

Arnold currently checks in at 72nd overall in 247Sports Composite rankings for 2023 and seventh among quarterbacks.

Arnold is the second signal caller who has committed to the Sooners since Brent Venables was hired as head coach in December. New offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Jeff Lebby also landed Nick Evers out of Flower Mound (Texas) as part of the 2022 recruiting class. Evers enrolled early at OU and will go through spring football this year.

The state of OU’s QB room became an area of concern in Norman after Lincoln Riley stepped down as OU’s head coach last year to take over at USC. Two five-star triggermen, Spencer Rattler and Caleb Williams, have since left the program. Malachi Nelson, a five-star prospect from California in the ‘23 class, also dropped his commitment to the Sooners to follow Riley and join the Trojans next year.

While OU can no longer bank on Riley’s reputation as a QB guru to attract major star power at the position, Arnold’s commitment fits with a shift in strategy at filling out the QB room. Riley’s Rattler-Williams-Nelson trifecta signaled his intention to bring in a top-tier prospect every other year with a less-heralded recruit in between. The approach all but guaranteed coveted players like Rattler and Williams would take over behind center in their second season on campus.

Lebby doesn’t appear to be reading from that playbook. He already solidified the QB room by adding fourth-year transfer Dillon Gabriel, a former Central Florida star. Meanwhile, OU is also pursuing transfer Jaxson Dart, who started last season as a freshman at USC, to compete with Gabriel and Evers for the starting job in the spring. Arnold would give OU a prospect of similar caliber to Evers once 2023 rolls around.

With a QB in place, Venables and the rest of the OU coaching staff can concentrate on building around Arnold in the ‘23 class. The Sooners already have a commitment from blue-chip wide receiver DeAndre Moore Jr. from California and three-star offensive lineman Joshua Bates out of Colorado.

NORMAN – The Oklahoma men’s gymnastics team opens its home slate on Saturday night in Norman at historic McCasland Field House with a matchup against the Air Force Falcons at 7 p.m. CT.

Turnovers, Baylor offense too much to overcome

The Oklahoma Sooners dropped their fourth straight Big 12 game and five in the last six, 65-51, to No. 5 Baylor Saturday afternoon in the Lloyd Noble Center.

The problems were obvious and often, just as they have been so far in conference play. The Sooners turned the ball over 25 times, the most in a game this season, with Baylor stealing the ball 16 times alone. In fact, OU has racked up 17 or more turnovers in three of the last four games.

Oklahoma also started out each half digging itself into massive holes. In the first 4:48 of the game the Sooners turned the ball over on eight of their first 10 possessions as the Bears jumped out to a 10-0 lead.

The Sooners did show the fight fans want to see, but just like against Kansas, they couldn’t hold the lead. After the early 10 point deficit, OU put together a 19-5 run to lead by four, 19-15, but the defense let up. The Bears ended the half on an 8-0 run, while also scoring the first eight points of the 2nd half, totaling 16 straight Bears points to put Baylor up, 33-21.

Tanner Groves was held scoreless in the first half, but was a major catalyst after the break, putting up 11 points and helping the Sooners go on a 12-1 run to get within five, 47-42, but the momentum was short lived. After a knee to the face, Groves received a technical for arguing after the Sooners had to foul, and the Bears hit four free throws to push the lead back out to seven.

The Sooners kept pushing, but it was too little too late after the lead ballooned back up to 14 at the under four timeout.

For the Sooners to turn the tides in the best college basketball conference in America, they have to cut down on the turnovers. Bad passes, traveling and bad shots all contributing to the season high giveaways. OU also needs to limit the massive runs they allow opponents’ offenses to put together, so the deficits are more manageable. Finally, Oklahoma has to get Tanner Groves in a groove early in the contest. 11 points in the 2nd half is great, but not after getting shutout in the first half, and not even attempting a shot.

What’s Next?

Oklahoma is back on the road this Wednesday at the West Virginia Mountaineers (13-5, 2-4). Tip is scheduled for 7 p.m. on ESPN 2.