Oklahoma (12-1, 2-0) at West Virginia (13-1, 2-0)
When: Saturday, January 6th 2018
Where: WVU Coliseum, Morgantown, WV
Time: 7:15 ET | TV: ESPN2
Opening Odds: West Virginia -5.5/172
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The Big 12 is slowly turning out to be maybe the best conference in the country, turning out ranked vs. ranked games on an almost nightly basis, and Saturday is no different. The fifth-ranked West Virginia Mountaineers will put its 13-game winning streak on the line Saturday night when it hosts the No. 7 Oklahoma Sooners, winners of 10 in a row, with a share of first place in the Big 12 Conference at stake. It will be the sixth time the Mountaineers have hosted a game that has featured two top-10 teams, but it will be their first look at the Sooners’ sensational freshman guard Trae Young, who is setting the world on fire. The 6’2″ Young, who graduated last summer from Norman High School just two miles from campus, leads the nation in both scoring (29.4 points per game) and assists (10.6) by wide margins and has drawn comparisons to two-time NBA MVP Stephen Curry, who recently called Young “unbelievable”. Young has scored at least 20 points in 12 straight games, the longest streak in school history and the longest by a Division I freshman since Kentucky’s Jamal Murray also had 12 in a row in the 2015-16 season. Oklahoma leads the all-time series with West Virginia 9-5 and has won two straight in Morgantown including a 89-87 overtime win last season when the Mountaineers came in ranked No. 7 in the nation.
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Young nearly had a triple-double, finishing with 27 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds in the Sooners’ 109-89 victory over rival Oklahoma State on Wednesday. He finished one rebound shy of what would have been the program’s first points-rebounds-assists triple-double. The Sooners, who lead the nation in scoring (95.8), shot 54.7% from the floor, including 15-of-27 from 3-point range. Junior guard Christian James, who is second on the team in scoring (13.0), added 12 points, including 3-of-4 3-pointers, while sophomore guard Kameron McGusty, who is averaging 9.9 points, had 15 points off the bench and connected on 3-of-6 from beyond the arc.
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The Mountaineers have certainly put their season opening 88-65 loss to Texas A&M in the Armed Forces Classic at Ramstein Air Base in Germany behind them, starting 13-1 for the third time in four years but have defeated just one ranked team (then-No. 15 Virginia, 68-61) in the process. Senior point guard Jevon Carter leads the team in scoring (16.6) and assists (6.6) and is tops nationally in steals (52) and is the reigning Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year. Senior guard Daxter Miles Jr. (14.3 points), sophomore forward Lamont West (12.6) and sophomore guard James Bolden (10.9), who is shooting a team-best 42.7% from 3-point land, also are averaging in double figures.
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This will be a test for Young, who will not only play in a hostile enviornment, but will be guarded by the Carter, who is one of the best defensively. This seems like a lot to lay for a West Virginia team who routinely plays their worst against highly-ranked teams. With that being said, I’m going to take the Mountaineers one more time in a matchup like this.
Pick: West Virginia -4
- Sooners are 5-0 ATS in their last 5 Saturday games.
- Sooners are 4-0 ATS in their last 4 games following a straight up win.
- Sooners are 4-0 ATS in their last 4 games vs. a team with a winning % above .600.
- Sooners are 4-0 ATS in their last 4 games vs. a team with a winning straight up record.
- Sooners are 4-0 ATS in their last 4 games overall.
- Sooners are 8-1 ATS in their last 9 vs. Big 12.
- Sooners are 6-2 ATS in their last 8 road games vs. a team with a home winning % of greater than .600.
- Sooners are 6-2 ATS in their last 8 road games.
- Sooners are 6-2 ATS in their last 8 road games vs. a team with a winning home record.
- Sooners are 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games after scoring more than 90 points in their previous game.
- Sooners are 7-3 ATS in their last 10 games following a ATS win.
- Sooners are 7-3 ATS in their last 10 after scoring 100 points or more in their previous game.
- Mountaineers are 6-1-1 ATS in their last 8 games vs. a team with a winning % above .600.
- Mountaineers are 6-2-1 ATS in their last 9 games vs. a team with a winning straight up record.
- Mountaineers are 6-2 ATS in their last 8 home games vs. a team with a road winning % of greater than .600.
- Mountaineers are 19-7 ATS in their last 26 home games vs. a team with a winning road record.
- Mountaineers are 1-5-1 ATS in their last 7 games following a ATS win.
- Mountaineers are 2-11 ATS in their last 13 Saturday games.
- Over is 6-0 in Sooners last 6 games after scoring more than 90 points in their previous game.
- Over is 5-0 in Sooners last 5 road games.
- Over is 7-0 in Sooners last 7 games vs. a team with a winning % above .600.
- Over is 5-0 in Sooners last 5 road games vs. a team with a winning home record.
- Over is 5-0 in Sooners last 5 road games vs. a team with a home winning % of greater than .600.
- Over is 5-0 in Sooners last 5 after scoring 100 points or more in their previous game.
- Over is 12-1 in Sooners last 13 overall.
- Under is 5-1 in Sooners last 6 vs. a team with a winning straight up record.
- Over is 4-1 in Sooners last 5 games following a ATS win.
- Over is 11-4 in Sooners last 15 Saturday games.
- Over is 19-7 in Sooners last 26 games following a straight up win.
- Under is 21-10 in Sooners last 31 vs. Big 12.
- Under is 4-0 in Mountaineers last 4 vs. a team with a winning straight up record.
- Over is 9-3 in Mountaineers last 12 Saturday games.
- Under is 5-2 in Mountaineers last 7 games vs. a team with a winning % above .600.
- Under is 5-1 in the last 6 meetings.
- Favorite is 7-3 ATS in the last 10 meetings.
- Road team is 4-1 ATS in the last 5 meetings.
