The sportsbook favors the Big 12 as the conference to win 2020 NCAA Basketball Championship, pricing it at +280. That makes this Big 12 meeting between the West Virginia Mountaineers and the Oklahoma Sooners one of the more important ones to watch, no matter how stacked the Thursday game schedule may be. The Mountaineers are priced at +650 to win the Big 12, while Oklahoma has much longer odds at +2000. Despite these odds favoring West Virginia, the Sooners claimed victory in both games against the Mountaineers in February. Will the outcome be any different this Thursday, March 12? Let’s find out.
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Betting Preview for the West Virginia Mountaineers vs Oklahoma Sooners NCAA College Basketball West Coast Tournament Game on March 10 2020
Where: Sprint Center, Kansas City, Missouri
When: Thursday, March 12, 2020, 9:00 PM ET
Line: West Virginia Mountaineers (Odds) vs. Oklahoma Sooners (Odds) – view all 2020 NCAAB lines
TV Broadcast: ESPN
Betting on the West Virginia Mountaineers (21-10 Overall / 9-9 Conference)
West Virginia stunned Baylor (and many bettors) on Saturday, winning by 12-points. Four players hit for double-digits, led by forward Oscar Tshiebwe who had a double-double. You’d better believe they’re prime for revenge against the Sooners who beat them twice in February.
On February 8th, Oklahoma won 69-59. The Mountaineers nearly matched the Sooners on the boards (41 vs 42 in favor of Oklahoma), and put up respectable numbers from beyond the arc (40%), and even had far fewer turnovers, losing the ball 11 times to Oklahoma’s 19. But they simply could not hit their shots close to the basket, ending the game with just a 31.6 field goal percentage. Oklahoma won by 11-points the second time around on the last day of the month, with an even worse offensive performance percentage-wise. West Virginia shot 34.3% from the field, but they embarrassed themselves from 3-point range, shooting just 16% from downtown.
The Mountaineers are 11-9 against the spread (ATS) after a win this season and are 4-2 ATS in conference tournament games over the last three years, covering 66.7% of the time.
Betting on the Oklahoma Sooners (19-12 Overall / 9-9 Conference)
The Sooners won a close one against TCU, leaping over the Horned Frogs by just 2 points in a 78-76 win on Saturday.
They may not be carrying as much momentum from that game, but they sure do have it against their Big 12 opponent this Thursday. Again, the Sooners beat the Mountaineers by 10-points or greater in February, delivering a pretty penny for those who bet accordingly. In the most recent game on February 29th, the Sooners starters shined bright, with four ending up in double-digits led by forward Kristian Doolittle who scored 19-points. On that game Oklahoma shot 49.1% from the field, and while they were mediocre from 3-point range their 38.1% shooting from beyond the arc was more than enough when compared to the Mountaineers paltry 16% shooting. Still, Oklahoma’s achilles heel against West Virginia is found with turnovers. They cave to defensive pressure, losing the ball 19 times (to WVU’s 11) in game one in February, and 11 times (to WVU’s 7) in game two in the same month. WVU also out-rebounded Oklahoma 43-39 in the most recent game.
The Sooners are 7-11 ATS after a win this season, covering only 38.9% of the time.
Writer’s Prediction
Oklahoma has WVU’s number, making it three games straight in 2020 in a close 72-71 win this Thursday.
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