Brandon Knapper scored a career-high 25 points to lead West Virginia to a 79-71 home win over Oklahoma on Saturday.

The win snapped a three-game losing streak for the Mountaineers (10-12, 2-7 Big 12), who came into the game having dropped eight of nine.

The loss was another hit to the Sooners' dwindling tournament hopes.

Oklahoma started the season 11-1 heading into Big 12 play but has gone 3-6 to start conference play, plus a non-conference win over Vanderbilt during that stretch.

Coming off the bench, Knapper was 7 of 10 from the floor, making four 3-pointers. Knapper hadn't hit more than two 3-pointers in any game this season.

Wesley Harris added 13 and Esa Ahmad 12 for the Mountaineers. Ahmad also added 13 rebounds, including seven on the offensive end. Freshman Derek Culver also had 13 points and 14 rebounds.

West Virginia pulled down 18 offensive rebounds, leading to 27 second-chance points. The Mountaineers outrebounded Oklahoma 46-30 overall.

The Mountaineers led by nine with less than 16 minutes to play but Oklahoma chipped its way back into the game at the free-throw line, and with the help of some missed free throws on the other end.

West Virginia missed three free throws in a one-minute span that helped the Sooners close the gap.

The Sooners went nearly 6:30 without a field goal in the second half before Brady Manek's 3-pointer with 2:11 remaining cut the West Virginia lead to two, 65-63.

But Knapper came back with a 3-pointer on the next possession to stretch the lead back out again and then on the other end, Knapper forced a turnover then hit a free throw to put the Mountaineers up by six and the Sooners didn't get the ball back with a chance to tie or take the lead again.

Manek led Oklahoma with 18 points, hitting four 3-pointers. Aaron Calixte added 17 for the Sooners.

Oklahoma's leading scorer, Christian James, struggled. James scored 10 points but was just 1 of 10 from the field.

The Mountaineers scored the final eight points of the first half to take a 33-26 lead into half.

--Field Level Media