West Virginia can’t build on recent momentum as No. 5 Texas cruises to 34-point win

On the very first play of the game for West Virginia, Erik Stevenson dribbled towards the basket, turned around, and then threw the ball out of bounds. 

Those type of plays would repeat themselves all afternoon long, as the Mountaineers turned the ball over 20 times, in their 94-60 loss to No. 5 Texas in Austin on Saturday. 

After winning each of their last two games, the Mountaineers began a two-game road trip hoping to continue to build their NCAA Tournament resume. 40 minutes of basketball later and WVU looked like a completely different team than what took the floor Wednesday night against No. 11 Iowa State. 

West Virginia (15-10, 4-8 Big 12) hung around early, leading 12-8 after an Emmitt Matthews layup as Matthews scored nine of the first 12 points for WVU on Saturday. It originally looked as though the layup would not count, with Matthews being whistled for a charge, but the referees then decided to call a double-foul — counting the basket, but not awarding Matthews the free throw. 

At the time, the one point seemed to mean much more than it ultimately would. Texas (19-5, 8-3) responded with a 12-2 run, as Sir’Jabari Rice scored eight points, while hitting two three-pointers. Rice would finish with a season-high 24 points, going 5 for 6 from the field, 4 for 5 from deep and making all 10 of his free throw attempts. 

Kedrian Johnson converted an and-one opportunity for the Mountaineers, cutting the deficit to three. The Longhorns though would not be fazed, going on a 9-0 run, as they scored 12 points off seven West Virginia turnovers in the first 13:07 of the game. 

West Virginia would trail by 11 and seem to be threatening to get back into the game. Out of a Texas timeout, the Longhorns went on a 7-0 run in just 1:04, leading by 18, and closing the door on any chance West Virginia had. 

Texas ultimately went into halftime leading 51-30, turning West Virginia over 13 times, leading to 21 points, while also converting all 16 of their free throws — the most consecutive free throws made in a half for the Longhorns since 1972. 

The second half would not be much prettier for West Virginia. The Mountaineers did not turn the ball over, but they did themselves no favors on the offensive end shooting 9 for 27 in the second half. 

Over the first 11:29 of the second half, West Virginia’s defense conceded only four made shots from the Longhorns. Over the same span, WVU went 2 for 14 from the field, scoring a total of 11 points, and allowing Texas to expand their lead to 28 points. 

Texas would later go on another 9-0 run late in a 2:04 span in the second half, expanding their lead to 35 before ultimately winning by 34.

West Virginia would empty their bench late in the second half, with Pat Suemnick and Josiah Harris playing a combined 17 minutes. The two would go 6 for 11 from the field, scoring 15 points, and grabbing three rebounds.

West Virginia’s offense finished shooting just 35.2 percent from the field on the game, going 6 for 16 from three-point range, and turning the ball over 20 times leading to 32 Texas points. Matthews led all scorers for WVU with 13 points, going 5 for 9 from the field, and going 2 for 4 from three-point range. 

Texas would shoot 46.9 percent from the field, making 10 of their 17 attempted three-pointers, and went 24 for 25 from the free throw line.

It will be a quick turnaround for West Virginia who heads to Waco, Texas, to face No. 14 Baylor on Monday.