Shanna Rose | WV Sports Chat
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia’s margin for error against No. 13 Texas Tech was thin Sunday afternoon, and the Mountaineers missed too often from the perimeter and the free throw line to make it hold up.
WVU shot just 2 of 22 from 3-point range (9.1 percent) and made 13 of 23 free throws in a 70-63 loss to the Red Raiders at Hope Coliseum.
The Mountaineers entered the day ranked next to last in the Big 12 at 67.8 percent from the line.
Texas Tech never trailed and leaned heavily on the 3-point shot, finishing 13 of 24 from deep to build and maintain a double-digit cushion for most of the afternoon.
The Red Raiders took a 39-27 lead into halftime after hitting eight 3-pointers in the opening half, while WVU struggled to find rhythm offensively.
The Mountaineers (15-9, 6-5 Big 12) opened the second half with an 8-0 run to trim the deficit, forcing the Texas Tech to call timeout, but the response was immediate. Jaylen Petty knocked down a 3-pointer and the Red Raiders followed with 10 straight points to push the lead back to 15.
WVU made one final push, cutting the margin to nine on a Harlan Obioha layup with 8:29 remaining and to seven with just over three minutes left on a Brenen Lorient basket. Christian Anderson answered with a 3-pointer and JT Toppin added two free throws to restore a 10-point lead.
Texas Tech missed a few free throws down the stretch, allowing the Mountaineers to trim it to five on a Lorient free throw with seven seconds remaining, but LeJuan Watts sealed it with a pair of free throws.
Toppin scored a game-high 22 points on 8-of-17 shooting and added nine rebounds for the Red Raiders (17-6, 7-3). Donovan Atwell finished with 15 points, Anderson recorded 13 points and 11 assists, and Petty added 11. Four Texas Tech players made at least two 3-pointers.
“You have to give them a lot of credit,” WVU head coach Ross Hodge said afterward. “They put you in difficult decision-making processes with Toppin’s one-on-one ability and his passing ability. You’ve got to be able to adjust and do some different things on the fly, and there were a couple of times we tried to make some adjustments, and we didn’t execute those very well.”
Lorient led the Mountaineers with 21 points on 10-of-14 shooting. Jasper Floyd and Chance Moore scored 10 points each. Treysen Eaglestaff and Moore were the only Mountaineers to connect from 3-point range.
Despite holding a 34-28 rebounding edge and outscoring the Red Raiders 38-20 in the paint, WVU could not overcome the perimeter disparity.
Hodge said afterward on his post game radio show that he was disappointed in his team’s inability to come up with loose balls early in the game.
“To start the game, you kind of get beat to every loose ball; they got the first four loose and three of them directly led to baskets,” he said.
“I think if you step on the floor legitimately expecting to win the game, you get more loose balls than your opponent. That was the ultimate disappointing part of the game to me.”
The loss marked the Mountaineers’ second defeat in its last 15 home games and Texas Tech’s third straight win over WVU. The game also served as a reunion between Hodge and Red Raider head coach Grant McCasland. Hodge was an assistant under McCasland for seven seasons at Arkansas State and North Texas.
The Mountaineers return to action Saturday at UCF.
Photo Credit: WVU Athletics
