Oklahoma State Cowboys vs. West Virginia Mountaineers: Prediction, Preview, Picks & Odds - 2/20/2023

Time: 7 p.m. ET

Venue: WVU Coliseum, Morgantown, WV

Where to watch: ESPN2

DraftKings: West Virginia -5

FanDuel: NL

BetMGM: West Virginia -5.5

Caesars: West Virginia -5

Oklahoma State: 16-11 (7-7 Big 12)

West Virginia: 15-12 (4-10 Big 12)

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The Big 12 has two matchups on Monday but the lesser one will be as intriguing. The Oklahoma State Cowboys will try to continue establishing positioning in the middle of the conference when they face the West Virginia Mountaineers in Morgantown on Monday.

Oklahoma State has lost two straight heading into this game with back-to-back losses against No. 5 Kansas and No. 22 TCU. The Cowboys are coming off a 100-75 loss in Fort Worth. Defense was optional on this day when TCU shot an absurd 68% from the floor and only took 15 3-pointers to show how dominant TCU was.

Bryce Thompson had 18 points on 6 of 15 shooting, as the Cowboys shot 46 percent from the floor. Any other time that would be considered a successful shooting endeavor but not when you give up almost 70 percent shooting.

“The only statement that was made today was by TCU,” Oklahoma State coach Mike Boynton said. “They played like a team that had a tremendous amount of purpose and it didn’t help having a preseason player of the year back. I think it helped lift up those other guys.”

Oklahoma State was playing some of its best ball when they won five straight, but defense as it does in the Big 12 tends to fall off toward the end. Once the conference realizes there is some sort of pecking order that is established, you’re going to see more teams find those weaknesses. Right now, that’s the case with Oklahoma State.

West Virginia would love to have those kinds of problems at the current moment, but they’ve been bottoming out since that win over Iowa State on Feb. 8, though we’re slowly realizing that they are just as much on the frauds list as any other ranked team that doesn’t deserve to be there. WVU is coming off a 78-72 loss to lowly Texas Tech on Saturday in Morgantown in what might have been officially their worst loss of the season. 

Erik Stevenson finished with 27 points on 9 of 21 shooting, but the Mountaineers shot just 43 percent from the floor. Overall, just a bad look for this group that can’t find any form of consistency. Kedrian Johnson also had 20 points, and that was about the end of anything good WVU could generate.

I can’t trust anything West Virginia does. You would’ve hoped they’d be fine coming off that game against TCU where they lost by 4 at Fort Worth, but they continue to fall short. Good chance for Oklahoma State to continue finding this momentum. Oklahoma State 78, West Virginia 65

Favorite is 5-2 ATS in the last seven meetings.

Oklahoma State is 30-23 ATS after a conference game the last 3 seasons.

Oklahoma State is 14-8 ATS after 2 straight games as an underdog the last 3 seasons.

West Virginia is 19-25 ATS after playing a home game the last 3 seasons.

PG: John-Michael Wright

SG: Caleb Asberry

SF: Bryce Thompson

PF: Woody Newton

C: Kalib Boone

PG: Kedrian Johnson

SG: Erik Stevenson

SF: Emmitt Matthews Jr.

PF: Tre Mitchell

C: Jimmy Bell Jr.