Texas Tech basketball: Scouting the West Virginia mountaineers

WVU has tons of size in the post

As you might expect in an elite rebounding team, West Virginia is huge in the post.  That wasn’t the case for Baylor, which used its guards to help dominate the glass but today, Tech will be challenged inside like it hasn’t been all year.

The key force down low is 6-foot-10, 255-pound sophomore Derek Culver.  Averaging 10.4 points and 9.8 rebounds per game, he’s the conference’s leading rebounder.

Already this year, he has had some monster games including a 25-point, 11-rebound game against Rhode Island, a 16 and 16 game against Nichols, and a 12 and 18 game against St. John’s.  Last year against the Red Raiders, he averaged 13.6 points and 11 rebounds in three games.

Meanwhile, 6-foot-9 freshman Oscar Tshiebwe is proving to be a monster as well.  The 258-pound 2019 McDonald’s All-American is averaging 12.2 points and 9.3 rebounds per game making him the Big 12’s third-leading rebounder.

That’s right folks, West Virginia’s two big men are No. 1 and No. 3 in the Big 12 in rebounding.  What’s more, they can then bring Routt, the 6-foot-11 senior who tripped Mooney last year, off the bench if needed.  The 250-pounder probably will not play much of a role today as he’s averaging just 8.6 minutes per game but he could be an insurance policy if one of the other bigs finds early foul trouble.

In Culver and Tshiebwe, WVU has the best one-two post tandem in the Big 12.  That’s going to put a huge burden on the undersized Red Raiders as they try to survive on the glass.