National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
West Virginia 92, Oklahoma State 75
When: 4:00 PM ET, Friday, December 30, 2016
Where: Gallagher-Iba Arena, Stillwater, Oklahoma
Officials: # Don Daily, # Joe DeRosa, # Darron George
Attendance: 13611

Daxter Miles poured in 22 points punctuated by a last-minute dunk, Jevon Carter scored 15 points and No. 11 West Virginia pulled away for an easier-than-expected 92-75 victory over Oklahoma State on Friday in Stillwater, Okla.

Playing in front of the first sellout at Gallagher Iba Arena in two years, the Mountaineers (12-1,1-0) dominated the Big 12 opener by building a 21-point lead in the second half.

Freshman Sagaba Konate had five dunks in scoring a career-high 12 points and West Virginia shot 55 percent from the field while harassing the Cowboys (10-3, 0-1) into 19 turnovers.

"We got contributions from a lot of guys," said coach Bob Huggins, whose Mountaineers got nine points each from Nathan Adrian, Esa Ahmad, Brandon Watkins and Lamont West.

"Sags can score it around the goal. Lamont made shots when Oklahoma State went zone, and Brandon played 25 minutes. I don't think Brandon's ever played 25 minutes."

Phil Forte scored 18 points for Oklahoma State, including four 3-pointers in the final eight minutes, and Leyton Hammonds added a season-high 17 points. Point guard Juwan Evans, the Big 12's leading scorer at 20.2 points per game, finished with 15 points and 11 assists but committed five turnovers and made just 3 of 9 shots from the floor.

"There's nothing pretty about playing West Virginia -- they don't allow you to run much," Cowboys coach Brad Underwood said. "You've got to go make basketball plays because they don't allow you to set something up."

West Virginia, favored by only three points, pulled away despite a quiet game from Ahmad, the team's top scorer who was limited by first-half foul trouble and didn't score a bucket until a breakaway dunk with 5:59 left in the game.

Carter's 13 first-half points included three free throws after he was fouled by Evans on a corner jumper. That put West Virginia up 19-7, a lead that expanded to 41-25 after Carter's 3-pointer and layup sparked a 12-2 run.

West Virginia led by double digits for the 23 of the final 24 minutes.

"It's the Big 12, so every game you're going to get hit in the mouth," Hammonds said. "It was a great learning experience for us."

Carter finished with six assists and made four steals, and West Virginia backup guard Tarik Phillip contributed eight assists to make up for 1-of-6 shooting from the field.

The Mountaineers committed only 12 turnovers against Oklahoma State, which came in forcing 20 per game.

"Our passing in transition has really improved because we're not throwing to away as much," Huggins said. "Plus, whenever we made backcuts we scored, and that tends to alleviate the pressure."

NOTES: West Virginia F Elijah Macon, a 10-game starter averaging 5.4 points and 3.2 rebounds, missed the game with a knee injury suffered last week against Northern Kentucky. ... West Virginia beat Oklahoma State for the third straight year in Stillwater and the fifth consecutive meeting overall. "The grit, the fight, the toughness -- we've got a long way to go in this areas," Underwood said. "We got exposed today. That West Virginia team today brought it more than we did." ... West Virginia scored 50 points in the paint thanks to dribble penetration and transition baskets.
Top Game Performances
 
West Virginia   Oklahoma State
Daxter Miles Jr. 22 Scoring Phil Forte III 18
Tarik Phillip 8 Assists Jawun Evans 11
Nathan Adrian 8 Rebounds Leyton Hammonds 7
Nathan Adrian 5 Free Throws Made Jawun Evans 9
Jevon Carter 4 Steals Davon Dillard 1
Nathan Adrian 2 Blocks Mitchell Solomon 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
West Virginia 92 55.0 6-16 20-26 24 30 6 8 12
Oklahoma State 75 45.3 7-19 20-33 15 28 3 3 19