MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — With five games left, three of them at home, the recipe was simple for West Virginia. Take care of business at home. The Mountaineers would not cash in on the opportunity as down the stretch the Red Raiders seemed to want it more than the Mountaineers.
“We have talked and drilled and talked and drilled on the fact that we have an advantage here, we’re playing at home, we play well at home generally,” West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins said. “And then at the free throw line, we don’t move.”
As WVU’s Erik Stevenson and TTU’s Jaylon Tyson were trading baskets in the second half, the Red Raiders would secure two offensive rebounds off of two missed free throws. What turned from just scoring one point on the possession, turned into scoring four before WVU would get the ball back.
Stevenson was once again the offensive sparkplug to begin the game for the Mountaineers. The fifth-year guard scored 10 of WVU’s (15-12, 4-10)first 14 points, including making a pair of three-pointers to open the game. Those free throws were a part of an 11-0 run, which brought Texas Tech (15-12, 4-10) back into the game, before Stevenson would cool off late, sending West Virginia searching for answers in their 78-72 loss to Texas Tech on Saturday.
“We didn’t come out wanting to win,” Stevenson said. “We didn’t come to play as a team, and we deserved to lose.”
After going 3 for 20 from three-point range in the first meeting between these two teams on Jan. 25, the Red Raiders matched that total in the first half. Texas Tech made all three of those shots within the first 9:01 of the first half, keeping pace with Stevenson and the Mountaineers.
The last of those three three-pointer came from Pop Isaacs, jumpstarting a 7-0 run for the Red Raiders, to give them a 19-18 lead. Both teams would go back-and-forth for the remainder of the first half, with Tyson leading all scorers with 14 first-half points.
“Knew it was going to be a war when we came in here,” Texas Tech head coach Mark Adams said. “We were fortunate we made some plays and some free throws down the stretch.”
Stevenson would not score again in the first half after his quick strike of 10 points, while Johnson led West Virginia with 11 points in the first half.
The second half began just as the first half had ended — both teams trading baskets — until the Mountaineers looked to pull away midway through the second half.
A Stevenson three-pointer was matched with a Tyson three-pointer, before Stevenson would score nine consecutive points for the Mountaineers, forcing a Texas Tech timeout with 9:43 to play.
“I think when we got the eight-point lead, I honestly think we had some guys relax,” Huggins said.
Texas Tech would take the lead right back, going on their 11-0 run, and after trailing by eight with 8:41 to play, the Red Raiders led by three with 6:01 to play.
Stevenson would make his final shot of the game at the 5:38 mark of the second half, tying the game at 66, as he made a three-pointer. Stevenson would miss his final five shots of the game, all coming within the final 2:49 to play.
“Definitely got good looks, just didn’t go in. That’s not what lost us the game though,” Stevenson said. “We gave up 78 points to arguably the worst team in the league. We let guys score who don’t score those numbers ever. Just no energy, that’s what it was.”
27 of those 78 points were scored by Tyson. A new career-high for Tyson, he went 11 for 15 form the field, making three of his four three-point attempts, and did not turn the ball over once. Texas Tech scored 42 points in the paint and out-rebounded the Mountaineers 39-28.
“We just got to have resilience.,” Tyson said. “We’ve been through adversity all year.”
The Mountaineers turned the ball over 14 times, leading to 15 Texas Tech points.
“We have eight turnovers, and we have a fifth-year guy throw the ball out of bounds,” Huggins said. “I don’t have any idea of how to explain that.”
Fardaws Aimaq pitched in with a double-double, scoring 14 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. Texas Tech shot 47 percent from the field as a team, while going 6 for 14 from three-point range.
West Virginia went 11 for 28 from three, with Stevenson making six of them. The Mountaineers shot 43.5 percent from the field, as Kedrian Johnson had 20 points on 8 for 13 shooting.
Photo by Aaron Parker, Blue Gold Sports
