Oklahoma falls to West Virginia in OT thriller in CBC title game
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Oklahoma looked like it was heading for a championship and a trophy presentation on Sunday afternoon in Las Vegas.
Then the Sooners fell apart in overtime, and their dreams of winning the second annual College Basketball Crown evaporated in a sea of West Virginia points. After Oklahoma scored the first 6 points of overtime to take an 82-76 lead, the Sooners took their foot off the gas pedal and went in reverse, and the Mountaineers stormed back.
They scored the next 13 points of the game, which also happened to be the last 13 points of the game, to prevail 89-82 in a CBC championship game that was full of runs on either side.
Oklahoma basketball social media was ready for a coronation, but instead had to post the final score without any emotion after the dust settled in Vegas:
Nijel Pack’s driving layup with 3:19 remaining in overtime gave Oklahoma that 6-point cushion, and everything seemed to be falling into place for the Sooners. According to ESPN’s play-by-play winning percentage probability, Oklahoma had an 82.5% chance to be holding that championship trophy after Pack put the Sooners up 6 in OT.
But West Virginia roared back, scoring the next 6 points to square things at 82-82 with just a few minutes left in overtime.
Honor Huff’s 3-pointer tied the game for West Virginia, and then the Mountaineers from the Big 12 zoomed past their former conference rival to own the day and steal that championship trophy.
Jasper Floyd’s 27-foot 3-pointer with 1:23 left in OT gave West Virginia an 85-82 lead, and the Mountaineers tacked on the last 4 points of the game as Oklahoma’s offense completely fell apart with the championship win in its grasp.
Once the teams got to overtime, the last 5 minutes of the game were completely unorthodox, just like the first 40 minutes of this title game battle were.
The Sooners finished an up-and-down season at 21-16, while West Virginia ended up at 21-14 with a shiny championship trophy to take back to Morgantown.
Oklahoma fell short despite shooting 53% from the field, with Pack leading the way as he usually did this season for the Sooners. Pack finished with 24 points and 7 assists in 44 exhausting minutes, playing all but 1 minute of Sunday’s battle.
Meanwhile, Huff poured in a game-high 38 points, shooting 8 of 15 from 3-point territory, which was part of Oklahoma’s 3-point barrage. The Sooners went 15 of 33 from long distance, and in overtime they were just too much for the suddenly stagnant Sooners.
Oklahoma was playing for a title on Sunday in Las Vegas, and on Monday night there will be 2 teams playing for the national championship in Indianapolis. Here is what the Kalshi market currently sees for the odds on the Michigan-UConn showdown for all the marbles:
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
