No. 7 WVU a 17 1/2-point favorite v. Oklahoma tonight. Good spot for Chase Harler and a corner 3 during mop-up duty. https://t.co/uGJ2dktlwB

— Mike Casazza (@mikecasazza) January 18, 2017

West Virginia is still No. 1 nationally in scoring margin at plus-26.7 points per game … but 17 1/2 points in Big 12 play is a lot. Oklahoma is, by definition, not great with a recent seven-game losing streak, a 7-9 record, four losses in five Big 12 games and a place at No. 143 in today’s RPI.

But nobody’s been the Sooners, who are winless in three road games this season, by 17 points. Wisconsin won by 20 in Madison, but that was Dec. 3, and Oklahoma was pretty good on offense against a very good defense, but the Badgers played a wonderful game. Other than that, losses by seven in overtime on a neutral court against Northern Iowa, four points against Wichita State in Oklahoma City, five points in overtime against Memphis, four points against Auburn on a neutral court, 16 points at home against Baylor, three points at TCU, 11 points at Kansas State and 11 points against Kansas. Covering tonight would say a good bit about the Mountaineers.

The Auburn, Baylor, TCU and Kansas State losses came without Jordan Woodard. Jordan Woodard is a senior and Oklahoma’s point guard, most-experienced player and best talent. He fell ill when a green team was trying to figure out a few things. He came back and Oklahoma fought Kansas and beat Texas Tech. Life for Lon Kruger is easier with Woodard when life is also without Buddy Hield, Isaiah Cousins and Ryan Spangler. Those guys were good. They’re gone.

“That’s a lot,” Bob Huggins said. “Those guys played heavy minutes. The guys on the bench didn’t play nearly as much. It’s hard when you lose a lot of guys who have experience, and on top of that, your most-experienced and best player gets hurt. Lon’s a great coach. He’s not a good coach — he’s a great coach.”

Woodard’s averaging 17.5 points — seven and 27 points in his two games back — to go with 3.6 assists and 5.3 rebounds per game, and he’s shooting 40 percent form 3-point range. He’s back, and he’s back to where he used to and needs to be, which is on the ball and at the free-throw line.

“They got him off the ball last year,” Huggins said. “Cousins had the ball, so then, if you over-helped for cousins or over-helped for Buddy, he was going to get great shots. But give him a lot of credit. He kind of accepts whatever roll Lon think he needs to play for him to be successful.”

Woodard was great as a freshman, but as Hield became a Thing, Kruger gave Cousins more of the ball-handling responsibilities, especially last season, so he and Hield could have the ball most and make the most plays. Woodard was a perfectly competent part of that plan, someone who could get the offense out of danger by taking a pass and creating for himself or a teammate. He became a shockingly good 3-point shooter last year, and that was mandatory if Hield was going to get the attention he received.

Woodard’s assist numbers dropped, as you might expect, but so, too, did his free throw attempts. He can wear out a path to the line, and against the Red Raiders, he was 14-for-14.

“They moved him back to the point,” Huggins said. “I think that’s helped him a lot. He’s a lot like he was his freshman year. They set a lot of ball screens for him, and he does a great job using the ball screens and making shots.”

A challenge for Sagaba Konate and his fellow shot-blockers, to be sure.