Justin Gray secured 15 points and two steals, but the Texas Tech men’s basketball team was handed a 90-68 defeat by No. 10 West Virginia Wednesday at the WVU Coliseum.
With the loss, Texas Tech (18-11, 8-9 Big 12) has locked up the No. 7 seed at next week’s Big 12 Tournament and will play TCU during Wednesday’s opening round at approximately 8 p.m. CT televised by ESPNU.
The Red Raiders committed 19 turnovers which West Virginia (23-7, 12-5 Big 12) turned into a 34-7 advantage in points off turnovers. The Mountaineers also worked their way to a 40-23 rebounding edge which included 19 offensive boards.
“We were manhandled tonight,” Texas Tech head coach Tubby Smith said. “We shot the ball OK, and we did some things well. We just couldn’t defend the post like we wanted to. We had a chance early in the game. I thought we were doing some things well. Then, we started to turn the ball over. Lately, that is uncharacteristic of us. I thought our kids fought hard, and they battled the best that they could tonight.”
For Gray, he registered 15 points on 6-of-8 from the floor. The 15 points was Gray’s highest scoring output since the Baylor game on Feb. 13. He also picked up two steals on the defensive end.
Aaron Ross tacked on 14 points, five rebounds and two assists in his return to double figures. He has collected 10-plus points in nine of his last 10 games and 13 of his previous 15 outings.
Toddrick Gotcher added nine points and three rebounds, while Zach Smith notched six points, three rebounds and two assists. Matthew Temple and Devaugntah Williams also picked up six points apiece.
Off the bench, C.J. Williamson provided a solid all-around effort with five points, three rebounds and two assists over his 11 minutes of action.
Texas Tech dialed up a 23-of-41 shooting effort and was 4-of-10 on its three-point attempts. The Red Raiders knocked down 18-of-26 from the free throw line.
West Virginia was 34-for-68 from the floor and buried 16 of its 31 shot attempts during the second half. The Mountaineers canned 8-for-22 from beyond the three-point arc and sank 14-for-23 at the foul line.
Daxter Miles Jr. and Jaysean Paige fueled the WVU attack with 15 points each on a combined 12-of-22 shooting performance. Miles did his damage courtesy of five treys whereas Paige also chipped in five rebounds and five assists. Nathan Adrian and Tarik Phillip tallied 13 points apiece to give the Mountaineers four players in double figures.
The Red Raiders faced a 12-5 deficit after the opening five minutes of the contest before piecing together nine of the next 12 points to pull within 15-14 at the 12:01 mark.
Williams connected a pair of free throws followed by a Ross triple from the top of the key courtesy of Gotcher to make it 12-10 with 13:30 remaining. After a Miles three-ball, Temple got loose for a layup and a dunk to draw Tech back to 15-14 with 12:01 to go.
With West Virginia holding a 24-22 edge with 5:55 left, the Mountaineers kicked it into high gear with a 17-4 spurt to close the stanza and build a 15-point halftime spread. Paige ignited the flurry with back-to-back baskets and an assist. WVU also turned three Tech turnovers into layups during the run.
The Mountaineers kept the momentum out of the locker room and scored 10 of the first 14 points following intermission. A pair of Paige jumpers vaulted West Virginia to a 51-30 lead at the 16:40 mark.
Texas Tech got as close as 55-41 on two Ross free throws with 13:48 remaining. However, the Mountaineers stretched the advantage back to 21 points over the next three minutes. The 90 points allowed and the 22-point defeat were the second-highest on the season for the Red Raiders.
“Obviously, they will learn a valuable lesson,” Smith said. “They will learn a tough lesson about being physical and defending the right way, especially in our post defense. We didn’t contest. We did a poor job defensively. Then, there are the basic fundamentals of squaring up to the basket and protecting the ball. There were a lot of one hand passes and bounce passes that we don’t even teach. All of the sudden, they showed up tonight. There were some slow passes that were intercepted. We have to work on our pass fake. I guess it is a different animal when you go up against a team that was focused tonight. They were ready to play. It was their senior night. They really took it to us in all phases of the game.”
Texas Tech turns its attention to Senior Day and its regular season finale versus Kansas State on Saturday. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. CT from the United Supermarkets Arena, and the game will be televised by ESPNEWS in addition to being available on www.WatchESPN.com and the Watch ESPN app.
Fans can purchase tickets online at www.TexasTech.com for as low as $8 by using the promo code SENIORDAY in the top right-hand corner and click Go. A direct link to the ticket promotion can be accessed by clicking http://bit.ly/1QfdsLu. Tickets also are available for purchase on gameday starting 90 minutes prior to tipoff at the United Supermarkets Arena Ticket Office.
(Press Release Provided by Texas Tech Athletics Department)