No. 5 seed Oklahoma State (18-7, 11-7) vs. No. 4 seed West Virginia (18-8, 11-6)
Big 12 Conference Tourney Quarterfinals, T-Mobile Center, Kansas City, Missouri; Thursday, 11:30 a.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: A spot in the Big 12 semifinals is up for grabs as Oklahoma State and West Virginia prepare to do battle. The teams split the regular season series at one win apiece. The teams last met on March 6, when the Cowboys shot 57.9 percent from the field while limiting West Virginia’s shooters to just 41.7 percent en route to an 85-80 victory.
LEADING THE CHARGE: West Virginia’s Derek Culver has averaged 14.8 points and 9.8 rebounds while Miles McBride has put up 15.4 points and 4.7 assists. For the Cowboys, Cade Cunningham has averaged 17.4 points and 5.6 rebounds while Kalib Boone has put up 9.9 points and 5.4 rebounds.
CREATING OFFENSE: McBride has either made or assisted on 40 percent of all West Virginia field goals over the last three games. The sophomore guard has accounted for 12 field goals and 17 assists in those games.
SCORING THRESHOLDS: West Virginia is 13-0 when it limits opposing offenses to 71 or fewer points, and 5-8 when opponents exceed 71 points. Oklahoma State is 13-0 when holding opponents to 75 points or fewer, and 5-7 on the year when teams score any more than 75.
PASSING FOR POINTS: The Mountaineers have recently created buckets via assists more often than the Cowboys. West Virginia has an assist on 40 of 72 field goals (55.6 percent) over its past three outings while Oklahoma State has assists on 41 of 88 field goals (46.6 percent) during its past three games.
DID YOU KNOW: West Virginia has attempted the second-most free throws in all of Division I. The Mountaineers have averaged 24.8 free throws per game and 29.2 per game over their last five games.
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