West Virginia tops Oklahoma for Crown title, $300K prize

West Virginia (21-14) took down Oklahoma 89-82 in the College Basketball Crown championship game on Easter Sunday. Read more: West Virginia tops Oklahoma for Crown title, $300K prize. 

After falling behind by as many as 13 points, the Mountaineers stormed back in the second half to take the game into overtime. That’s when Honor Huff and Jasper Floyd took over and drained back-to-back threes to secure the win and an extra $300,000 in NIL money.

Huff led the way with a career-high 38 points, rewriting a few program records along the way. His curtain call performance helped him surpass the single-season school record for triples.

First Half 

Brenen Lorient scored the first points of the night after stealing it from former Mountaineer, Mohamed Wague.

WVU followed it up with back-to-back threes from Treysen Eaglestaff and Lorient. Oklahoma’s Derrion Reid broke the scoreless streak for the Sooners with a triple at the 16:52 mark.

Huff matched him with a three of his own after a turnover from the Sooners. He drained another one following a layup by Xzayvier. The Sooners bounced back with four-straight points.

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DJ Thomas added on to his eventful weekend with a three-pointer to raise WVU’s lead to eight. Nijel Pack connected on a mid-range jumper to put the score at 17-11 heading into the first media timeout of the half. 

Before the 12-minute media timeout, Huff extended the lead to 12 after hitting back-to-back triples. 

Oklahoma managed to storm back after the stoppage, going on a 7-0 run in a little over a minute of action. WVU was forced to call a timeout after having its lead trimmed down to six. 

The Sooners cut the deficit down to just one after scoring five more unanswered after the break. Chance Moore ended the run with a layup. 

However, Oklahoma quickly jumped to a six point lead after scoring another nine unanswered. 

WVU caught some rhythm in the closing seconds and managed to cut its deficit down to four going into halftime.

Second Half 

Oklahoma started the second half strong with four unanswered points. Eaglestaff answered back with a triple to mark WVU’s first points of the second half. 

Harlan Obioha added two points from a layup, but the Sooners tacked on another seven points. That forced WVU to call an early timeout.

After a media timeout, WVU started to find its groove on offense, but the Sooners continued to remain efficient. With a little over 13 minutes to go they were shooting over 60% from the field. 

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At the 12-minute media stoppage, the Mountaineers reduced their deficit to seven after a three-pointer from Lorient.

Moore single-handedly kept WVU in it with five points before the eight-minute media timeout to keep WVU within five. 

Lorient finished a layup that forced Oklahoma to call a timeout with 5:17 left after its lead was cut down to three. The timeout helped as Derrion Reid found an open lane for a layup right after.

Tae Davis added his own layup before the final media timeout to give Oklahoma 71-64 lead.

Huff quickly cut that lead to two after hitting a three and adding two free throws on the following possession. After forcing a 24-second shot clock violation on Oklahoma’s offensive possession, Lorient executed a textbook post move to even up the score.

Nijel Pack answered with a three to give Oklahoma three-point lead, but Huff immediately responded with a three of his own. WVU forced another defensive stop, which allowed Huff to force a foul on the offensive end and sink both free throws.

With just 18 seconds left in regulation, Davis connected on a layup to even it up at 76. Huff wasn’t able to get a contested mid-range jump-shot to go, which sent the championship game into overtime.

Overtime 

Oklahoma regained the momentum they had for most of the second half with two free throws and a wide open dunk from Davis. West Virginia stormed back after Floyd and Huff hit two-straight threes to force an Oklahoma time with 2:05 left.

After a missed three from Oklahoma, Floyd drained another contested three to give WVU a three-point lead. On the next offensive possession, Huff extended the lead to five after making both attempts from the charity stripe. He added two more from the foul line on the following possession as well.

That was all WVU needed to take the championship in overtime, securing a grand total of $300,000 in NIL money.

What’s next 

With the win, West Virginia has not only won a significant chunk of NIL money, but now have much-needed momentum heading into next season.

Head Coach Ross Hodge and company will be able to build off this win in preparations for a potential March Madness run next year.

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