Oklahoma State Cowboys vs West Virginia Mountaineers Box Score on Mar 11, 2021

Cade Cunningham recorded 17 points and eight rebounds to help No. 12 Oklahoma State register a 72-69 victory over No. 10 West Virginia on Thursday in the Big 12 tournament quarterfinals at Kansas City.

Avery Anderson scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half for the fifth-seeded Cowboys (19-7), who won for the seventh time in the past eight games. Isaac Likekele and Bryce Williams added 10 points apiece and Kalib Boone contributed 10 rebounds and six blocked shots.

Miles McBride and Taz Sherman scored 19 points apiece for West Virginia (18-9), which lost for the third time in the past four games. Derek Culver recorded 11 points and nine rebounds and Sean McNeil scored 10 points for the fourth-seeded Mountaineers.

Culver played 30 minutes while laboring through a non-COVID-19 illness. He reportedly was given an IV at halftime.

Oklahoma State will play top-seeded Baylor in Friday's semifinals. The second-ranked Bears defeated ninth-seeded Kansas State 74-68.

The Cowboys shot 44.3 percent from the field -- including 6-of-19 from 3-point range -- but held a dominating 45-32 rebounding edge.

West Virginia shot 42.4 percent and was 7-of-23 from behind the arc.

The Mountaineers battled back from a 10-point deficit to take a 69-68 lead on Sherman's 3-pointer with 1:14 remaining.

Anderson drove for a layup to put Oklahoma State back ahead with 55.1 seconds left and Williams added two free throws to make it 72-69 with 21.3 seconds remaining.

West Virginia had a chance to force overtime but came up empty. Sherman had a 3-point attempt blocked by Likekele and Culver recovered the ball for the Mountaineers and got it to McNeil, who didn't get the shot off in time despite it swishing the net.

West Virginia coach Bob Huggins failed for the second straight time in his bid to join Mike Krzyzewski, Jim Boeheim, Bob Knight and Roy Williams as the only male coaches with 900 Division I victories.

McBride scored 16 first-half points as the Mountaineers held a 36-30 edge.

Culver re-entered with 17:03 remaining in the contest and scored the next two Mountaineers' baskets. He converted another shot to make it 47-39 with 13:35 remaining.

Oklahoma State answered with a 16-3 spurt to move ahead. Cunningham buried a 3-pointer to give the Cowboys a 51-50 edge with 10:12 left. Likekele and Anderson added baskets to conclude the flurry and give Oklahoma State a five-point lead.

Cunningham's running hook shot made it 62-52 with 6:18 left.

The lead was again 10 before Sherman made two 3-pointers and converted a layup following a steal during a 10-1 run to pull West Virginia within 65-64 with 3:55 remaining.

--Field Level Media