Texas Tech basketball: Scouting the West Virginia mountaineers
Today, the Texas Tech basketball team takes on No. 17 West Virginia on the road so here’s a look at what to expect from the Mountaineers.
Life in the Big 12 doesn’t get any easier for the Texas Tech basketball team today. Coming off Tuesday’s home loss to No. 4 Baylor, the Red Raiders now have to make the longest road trip of the year to Morgantown where the No. 17 Mountaineers will be waiting.
A sellout crowd is expected as Bob Huggins’ team hosts its first conference game of the year. It’s going to be a rather tough road environment for this young Red Raider team in their first Big 12 game outside of Loop 289.
This is a series that has become rather contentious in recent years. A number of incidents both on and off the court as well as during and after games have caused blood to boil on both sides of this rivalry.
In January of 2018, the No. 8 Red Raiders took down No. 2 West Virginia in Lubbock in the first-ever meeting between top-10 teams in the history of United Supermarkets Arena. Following that game, WVU forward Wesley Harris threw either a punch or a very aggressive shove (depending on what one wants to label the action) towards a Texas Tech student as the students rushed the court.
https://twitter.com/stevenjee10/status/952337925089394689?s=20
In the aftermath, Harris received just a public reprimand from the Big 12 while Texas Tech was fined $25,000 for allowing the students onto the floor. Big 12 logic at its finest.
In January of 2019, Tech won in Morgantown for the first time in program history leading to a raucous celebration in the visitor’s locker room. That didn’t sit well with Huggins who openly complained about the Red Raiders’ loud music and dancing calling it “bad for our game”.
When West Virginia came to Lubbock later in the season, there was yet another unusual controversy. During the game, WVU forward Logan Routt, who was seated on the Mountaineer bench, attempted to trip Tech’s Matt Mooney after he had stumbled into the WVU bench while trying to block a shot.
The play resulted in a flagrant foul and Routt’s ejection. That meant that Routt didn’t have to bear witness to the massacre that would eventually unfold as the Red Raiders handed Huggins’ team an 81-50 thumping, the largest win the program had ever managed in a Big 12 game until last Saturday’s 85-50 defeat of Oklahoma State in Lubbock.
Of course, the last time these teams met, it was also memorable. In the Big 12 Tournament, the No. 10 seed Mountaineers became the first team with that ranking to beat a No. 2 seed when they eliminated the Red Raiders 79-74.
Given all that’s happened between these programs in recent years, it seems certain that Beard’s team will be walking into the most hostile of environments today. That’s only compounded by the fact that this year’s Mountaineers are a very good team.
At 12-2 on the season, they have already beaten No. 2 Ohio State, Wichita State, and Pittsburgh. Their losses thus far have been a 2-point defeat at St. John’s and a 7-point loss at No. 3 Kansas in a game which they led at halftime.
So let’s take a deeper look at the Mountaineers and what they will try to do against the Red Raiders today. And as we do, we will start with something that might not make Tech fans feel all that confident heading into this contest.