West Virginia looks to end a 12-game, 100-week losing streak in Big 12 road games in tonight’s game against Texas Tech. The last road win was in the Lonestar State against TCU on Feb. 23, 2021. The Red Raiders had won 29 straight home games before losing three in a row as part of an 0-7 start to conference play. They didn’t have a losing streak last season.
Texas Tech is one of nine Division I teams without a conference win and one of just two in a major conference. However, the Mountaineers are 1-6 in the Big 12, and tonight’s loser is in last place in the standings entering a weekend break for the Big 12-SE Challenge. WVU (11-8) will play host to No. 15 Auburn while Texas Tech (10-9) will visit LSU.
The Mountaineers lead the series 16-8, but the teams have split the past 10. Texas Tech secured a sweep last season and WVU did the same the year before. The Red Raiders are 5-5 at home against WVU but has won five of the last six.
— WVU’s starting lineup is the same. TTU will be without transfer big man Fardaws Aimaq, who’s played three games and averaged 10 points and 6.7 rebounds.
— Erik Stevenson misses a 3. Kevin Obanor seals off Tre Mitchell and gets a feed inside for a basket. Emmitt Matthews misses a 3 but gets the offensive rebound and turns it over. Obanor is fouled and makes to free throws. WVU turns it over but Obanor misses a deep 3.
— Stevenson misses a driving layup and Daniel Batcho blocks Jimmy bell’s putback. Obanor misses, Batcho misses the putback and Obanor scores on the third shot. WVU turns it over again. That’s an 0-for-5 start with three turnovers. It’s 6-0.
— Matthews cuts and gets the ball near the rim. He passes back to Mitchell, who misses a 3. WVU gets the offensive rebound and Matthews loses possession. TTU gets a runout layup for an 8-0 lead.
— Matthews drives the baseline late in the possession and hits a layup at the 15:44 mark. Batcho turns it over, but so does Kedrian Johnson. TTU misses inside but gets the second-chance basket again. It’s 10-2. WVU calls a timeout at the 14:51 mark. WVU is 1-for-7 with five turnovers. TTU is 4-for-8 with eight points in the paint, six points off turnovers and four second-chance points. WVU probably has to sub everyone out here.
— WVU subs everyone out and Seth Wilson hits a 3.
— Batcho drives and dishes to Obanor, who dunks and gets fouled by Mohamed Wague to complete a three-point play. Wague goes to the bench.
OH MY OBANOR ??@_KevinObanor | #WreckEm pic.twitter.com/9qC5obueYK
— WVU misses and Jaylon Tyson scores for a 15-5 lead. WVU is 0-4 when it trails by 10 or more points this season.
— We’re at the under-12 timeout, and TTU leads 15-7 on 6-for-12 shooting. WVU is 2-for-12 with four straight misses over the last 2:31.
— When we resume, Josiah Harris hits a jumper, his first basket/points since Dec. 18. He had played just three minutes in two games since then.
— Deep in a possession headed nowhere, Joe Toussaint hits a deep 3. Obanor gets an inside basket on the other side. Wilson banks in a 3. TTU turns it over with a charge. It’s 18-15 and WVU can tie the score, but Harris turns it over on a five-seconds violation.
Needed that ??#HailWV | @TouTou__5 pic.twitter.com/8lA3lwcse1
— We’re at the under-8 timeout as Harris commits his second foul. We’ll see if WVU subs him out. The subs have a good thing going. WVU is now 5-for-17 (and 3-for-12 from 3-point range) while TTU is 7-for-15. It’s still 18-15.
— Harris sits. Mitchell returns. WVU gives up a 3 on the inbound.
— Empty possessions on a string, but it ends when Toussaint hits a 3 to make it 21-18. Pop Isaacs turns it over, and WVU again has a chance to tie the score after trailing 15-5.
— Stevenson is back in, gets a defensive rebound and draws a foul. Kerwin Walton slams the ball on the floor for a technical foul. Stevenson is shooting the technical free throws and goes 2-for-2. He stays at the line for the one-and-one and goes 2-for-2. WVU leads 22-21. This is a 17-6 run.
— Johnson reaches to commit a foul and put WVU into the bonus. De’vion Harmon makes to free throws to give TTU the lead.
— Stevenson drives the sideline and hits Johnson for a 3. Johnson commits another foul. It’s 25-23 but TTU will shoot free throws when we return from the under-4 timeout.
— Harmon goes 1-for-2 and WVU has the ball with the lead for the first time. Bell is fouled and misses two free throws. Harmon scores over Stevenson in the paint.
— Toussaint misses a 3 off the side of the backboard but gets the long rebound and banks in a jumper.
— Bell goes 1-for-2 but WVU gets the offensive rebound. The possession ends when Stevenson turns it over by catching a pass out of bounds. TTU misses a 3. Wague is fouled on the rebound and makes two free throws. WVU leads 30-28.
— TTU goes 0-for-1 at the line and WVU has a second possession with the lead. Mitchell hits a 3. It’s 33-28.
— TTU calls its use-it-or-lose-it timeout and gets a shot inside but misses. Stevenson grabs the rebound and heads the other way. Two passes get the ball back to Stevenson, who misses a 3 right at the buzzer.
— WVU begins the second half with its starting five. Johnson makes a free throw, though the second one falls and is wiped out by a lane violation. Obanor scores for TTU.
— Stevenson drives and is fouled and TTU coach Mark Adams gets a technical. Stevenson makes two free throws for the technical and two for the shooting foul, and WVU leads 38-31.
— Isaacs beats the shot clock with a runner at the 15:55 mark for his first basket. He’s averaging over 15 points per game in Big 12 play.
— We’re at the under-16 timeout with WVU ahead 38-33 and 10 fouls in the books already. WVU is 0-for-4 from the floor (all 3-pointers) but 5-for-5 at the free-throw line. TTU is 2-for-8 from the floor and 1-for-2 at the line. WVU is 6-for-25 from deep. TTU is 1-for-10.
— Isaacs misses a 3 and rolls his ankle. That was ugly. But in transition, Matthews turns it over with a pass to absolutely no one. TTU scores on a third shot and WVU turns it over on a shot-clock violation as Johnson gets stuck in the paint as the buzzer sounds. Matthews and Johnson get pulled. It’s 38-35 and now Harmon scores in the paint and gets fouled by Mitchell. That’s his third.
— Harmon can’t finish the three-point play. Wilson hits a 3 in transition. TTU misses and Toussaint is fouled in transition. He splits two free throws for a 42-37 lead.
— TTU misses. Obanor falls into Mitchell on the offensive rebound to draw Mitchell’s fourth foul. Unlucky. Obanor goes 2-for-2.
— Okonkwo cuts and is open at the rim. Stevenson doesn’t see it or doesn’t pass it and drives and throws it out of bounds. TTU gets fouled and makes two free throws. It’s 42-41. WVU is 1-for-5. TTU is 4-for-14 this half.
— Wilson banks in another 3.
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— We’re at the under-12 timeout. Fouls are the theme of the half. WVU is 2-for-7 with eight turnovers this half. TTU is 4-for-15 with one turnover. We have seen 17 fouls and 16 free throws. WVU leads 45-42.
— We resume with Toussaint at the line. He goes 1-for-2. Harmon squares up Stevenson and hits a jumper. It’s 46-44.
— Batcho is guarding Wilson. No matter. He pumps, slides and hits his fifth 3. Obanor answers with a 3 on the other end. Wilson misses a 3. Long rebound finds Stevenson. He misses. Wilson is on the other side of the floor now to save it to Stevenson, and he hits a 3. It’s 52-47. Circle that.
— Toussaint misses a 3, but the rebound goes to Wilson. He sees Okonkwo inside. Okonkwo catches, closes out the defender and scores while being fouled. the three-point play makes it 55-47.
— We’re at the under-8 timeout with WVU ahead 57-50. Stevenson has baskets on two of the past three possessions. He was 0-for-7 before that.
— Toussaint is again at the line as we resume, and this time he goes 2-for-2. WVU is 19-for-24 at the line and is up 59-50, matching the largest lead of the game.
— Bztcho catches a pass for an easy dunk … except that Okonkwo goes up and grabs the ball with two hands. Incredible play. Toussaint is fouled and makes two free throws. It’s 61-50, the largest lead of the game. And with 6:09 to go, this one is likely over now.
Okonk-no no no ??#HailWV | @kingjmo_32 pic.twitter.com/lBKseQZ08s
— TTU gets a layup and calls a timeout with 2:40 to go and two timeouts on the board. It’s 65-56.
— Four straight free throws for Toussaint. He’s 10-for-12 and had 20 points, and he’s played much more tonight than he did on Saturday, when Bob Huggins insinuated he’d forgotten about him in the second half. Ke. Johnson has sat for much of this second half, presumably after bouncing off the floor on a hard fall early in the second half.
— WVU has made seven 2-point shots, 10 3-point shots and 26 free throws with 1:45 to go.
— Final: WVU 76, Texas Tech 61. The Mountaineers had to have that one … but WVU controlled that one for about 30 minutes.
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