Texas Tech basketball grinds out 62-59 win over West Virginia

The Texas Tech basketball team came away with a 62-59 win over West Virginia Wednesday night to move to 1-0 in Big 12 play.

In a game featuring 50 fouls which resulted in five players being disqualified, the Texas Tech basketball team’s Big 12 opener against West Virginia resembled a street fight more than a basketball game. Fortunately, the No. 11 Red Raiders landed just enough blows to come away with a 62-59 win to move to 12-1 overall on the season.

Shooting just 38.2% from the field and 16.7% from 3-point range, the Red Raiders struggled to generate offense all night. Fortunately, their trademark defense did not let them down holding the home team to 41.9% shooting and forcing 22 turnovers.

Tech’s leading scorer Jarrett Culver struggled in the first half being held scoreless while picking up three fouls. But in the second half, he came up huge with 18 points including six in the final minutes (with four coming on critical free throws) to help his team nurse home a gutty win.

But the Red Raiders’ sophomore guard was not the only one to struggle in the first half. Tech managed its fewest points in a half this year trailing 22-20 at the break.

In the first twenty minutes, Tech shot just 7-24 from the field and missed all six of its 3-point shots. But the Red Raiders forced 12 turnovers leading to 11 points helping spark what little offense was generated in the first half.

Thankfully, senior guard Matt Mooney helped keep the Red Raiders in the game early. The graduate transfer had seven of his 14 points in the first half helping Tech battle back from a 21-12 deficit despite seeing Culver spend the final five minutes of the half on the bench with foul trouble.

It was clear that the Mountaineers’ focus was on stopping Culver. With 6-foot-8 junior Wesley Harris using his length and athleticism to harass the second-leading scorer in the Big 12, WVU made life as difficult on the Lubbock native as it has been all season.

"“They face-guarded Jarrett (Culver) a lot.” Beard said. “I thought he had great composure in the second half. He looked like a veteran out there. We had some other guys like (David) Moretti to my left here, with a no-turnover game. He hit some big timely shots. I think any problems that we had with our offense tonight was because West Virginia is a really good defensive team.”"

But when Wesley picked up his fifth foul with just under nine minutes to play, Culver went to work. Pouring in eleven points with Wesley on the bench, the Red Raiders’ star put his team on his shoulders as he has done all season.

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He got some help from sophomore guard Davide Moretti who added 12 points, his most since scoring 17 against USC on November 9th. Hitting a 3-pointer on which he was fouled and converting the subsequent free throw, Moretti gave the Red Raiders a 24-22 early in the second half as part of a 17-0 run that helped Texas Tech establish 31-22 lead with 16:21 to play.

But West Virginia battled back as both Red Raider big men, Tariq Owens and Norense Odiase, were virtual non-factors with each fouling out. Both seniors added just four points each and when they were reduced to spectators, the Mountaineers were able to exploit the Texas Tech lineup that featured the 6-foot-5 Culver as the tallest player on the floor.

As a result, WVU owned a 30-22 edge on the boards and was almost able to power their way to a win despite being without their starting forward and leading rebounder Sag Konate, who missed the game with a knee injury. 6-foot-8 junior Lamont West picked up the slack off the bench scoring a game-high 22 points hitting 4-6 from 3-point range.

True freshman Derek Culver, playing in only his third game as a collegiate added 12 points as the only other Mountaineer in double-digits. But only five other players scored for Bob Huggins’ team as his starting five contributed a meager eleven points.

Huggins was demonstrably upset on the sidelines throughout the night (as is usually the case) especially as his team went just 18-32 (56.3%) from the free throw line. Conversely, Tech hit 17-24 (70.8%) converting on key free throws down the stretch to keep West Virginia at arm’s length.

The win was the first ever in Morgantown for the Texas Tech basketball program and a reminder of how difficult life in the Big 12 is. Though it was a tough watch at times, it could be argued that this was the team’s best win of the season, especially considering the fact that it was the Raiders’ first true road game of the season.

Next. Three concerns about Texas Tech basketball team heading into Big 12 play. dark

Even though it was far from ascetically pleasing, this is the type of game that the Red Raiders must win if they are to be true Big 12 title contenders. Playing without their only two big men in the game’s critical minutes, Tech was able to grind out a win thanks to the grit and determination that have become synonymous with Red Raider basketball under Chris Beard.

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