National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
West Virginia 69, Oklahoma 67
When: 9:00 PM ET, Friday, March 11, 2016
Where: Sprint Center, Kansas City, Missouri
Officials: # Don Daily, # John Higgins, # Doug Sirmons
Attendance: 18972

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said his team came to the Big 12 Tournament to not just play in the championship game but to win it.

The Mountaineers have that chance, but just barely.

Oklahoma's Buddy Hield sank a 3-point shot from just inside half-court at the buzzer, but it was a split second too late and West Virginia hung on for a 69-67 victory in the semifinals of the Big 12 Tournament on Friday ngiht at Sprint Center.

The shot originally counted, which would have given the Sooners the win. But after a lengthy review, the call was reversed.

"It's kind of a blur," Huggins said of the final seconds. "You don't want to turn (Hield) loose, but you sure don't want to foul him. And I think that's what our guys were thinking. They're trying to slow him down, but at the same time they are trying not to foul him because he is a 90 percent free throw shooter.

"So I guess we take our chances on the heave from half-court rather than putting him to the line for two."

West Virginia plays Kansas in the title game on Saturday.

The Jayhawks advanced to their 12th Big 12 title game with a 70-66 victory over Baylor in the first semifinal. It's West Virginia's first appearance in the Big 12 final.

The Sooners scored nine straight points to take a 62-61 lead with 2:55 left. The Mountaineers answered with a three-point play by guard Tarik Phillip.

The Sooners scored the next five points to go up 67-64, but forward Ryan Spangler missed two free throws that would have given Oklahoma a five-point lead.

"I just missed shots, you know," Spangler said. "It happens. (I) made the first four and missed the last two."

Jaysean Paige hit two free throws for West Virginia to cut the lead to 67-66. Paige then made a jump shot with 11.1 seconds left for the lead.

Oklahoma guard Christian James' shot caromed off the rim and was rebounded by West Virginia forward Jonathan Holton.

Holton was fouled but hit only one of two shots with 1.8 seconds left. Spangler inbounded the ball to Hield, who raced across midcourt before launching his shot.

"Buddy Hield -- player of the year, candidate to be player of the year in the country -- he's a great player," Devin Williams said. "But that was just, you know, March Madness for you. That was just March play for you, getting to the nitty-gritty.

"Both teams did a good job going out there and competing. And it was a toss-up tonight and that shot was a toss-up, for real."

Hield, who scored 39 points in Oklahoma's win over Iowa State on Thursday, was held to six points.

"We just tried to make it a team effort and tried to limit his attempts and switch people on and off him," Paige said of West Virginia's defense on Hield. "(We) tried to wear him down. We felt like we did a good job."

Hield's coach agreed.

"They did a good job of staying up into him," Oklahoma coach Lon Kruger said. "And then when he did get it, they had another guy ready to help. They made it tough on Buddy to get looks. Obviously, (that's) the fewest looks he's had on the year, for sure, by far."

West Virginia (26-7, 25-8) was led by Jevon Carter with 26 points. Paige was the only other Mountaineers player in double figures with 10 points.

Oklahoma (26-6, 25-7) was led by guard Isaiah Cousins with 15 points. James had 13, all in the second half. Spangler added 12 and guard Jordan Woodard scored 11.

West Virginia held Hield without a field goal until 9:46 remaining in the second half. He missed his first six shots before connecting on a 3-point attempt and finished just 1 of 8.

West Virginia used a 10-2 run midway through the first half to claim a 20-13 lead and eventually led by eight on two occasions.

But Oklahoma closed on a 9-2 run to go into the locker room down just 30-29.

NOTES: West Virginia's No. 2 seed is the highest seed in a conference tournament since being the top seed at the 1989 Atlantic 10 tournament. ... Thursday's win over TCU was the first win in the Big 12 Championships for the Mountaineers. This is their fourth season in the conference. ... Oklahoma's quartet of Ryan Spangler, Jordan Woodard, Isaiah Cousins and Buddy Hield started their 100th game together over the last three seasons. ... West Virginia coach Bob Huggins is 39-17 (entering play Friday) in conference tournament games in four different leagues. He has won 10 tournament titles. ... Oklahoma has won three Big 12 Tournament titles, all in succession (2001-03).
Top Game Performances
 
Oklahoma   West Virginia
Isaiah Cousins 15 Scoring Jevon Carter 26
Isaiah Cousins 4 Assists Jonathan Holton 3
Khadeem Lattin 8 Rebounds Devin Williams 11
Christian James 5 Free Throws Made Jevon Carter 4
Khadeem Lattin 3 Steals Esa Ahmad 3
Khadeem Lattin 3 Blocks Tarik Phillip 1
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Oklahoma 67 48.8 11-21 16-22 11 29 6 6 21
West Virginia 69 38.3 10-22 13-16 10 26 1 11 14