WVU Defeats No. 22 Texas Tech in Return to Coliseum

MORGANTOWN, W. Va. – After a four-game road trip over the holiday break the No. 17 Mountaineers (13-2, 2-1 Big 12) returned to Morgantown for the first time in 28 days to play No. 22 Texas Tech (10-5, 1-2) Saturday evening in the WVU Coliseum.

West Virginia started the game with its defense firing on all cylinders, forcing a shot clock violation and blocking two shots on TTU’s first three offensive possessions. WVU’s good defense held up throughout the first half, holding Texas Tech to 12-33 (36.4%) shooting before halftime. WVU also out-rebounded Tech 21-12 in the first half, all leading to a 37-31 lead.

The second half started very slow, with the two teams making only one basket combined in the first four minutes. The Mountaineers eventually put together an 8-0 run midway through the half to build up a 48-36 lead with 10:58 left to play.

After some back and forth, WVU went on another run later in the half, this time 9-0, to go up 61-46 with 2:25 left in the game. The Mountaineers would hold on to win by 12, 66-54.

Freshman guard led the way for WVU, coming off the bench to score a game-high 22 points. McBride was on fire the entire game, shooting 8-11 from the floor, 1-1 from three and 5-6 from the free-throw line. It was the sixth straight game McBride has scored in double-digits. Derek Culver (nine points), Brandon Knapper (10) and Jermaine Haley (eight) rounded out West Virginia’s top scorers.

Freshman big man Oscar Tshiebwe led the game with 17 rebounds, his seventh double-digit rebounding effort this season. Tshiebwe also blocked four TTU shots.

Davide Moretti led Texas Tech with 16 points on 6-12 shooting.

West Virginia edged the Red Raiders in rebounds (43-30), points off turnovers (17-11), and bench points (41-15).

West Virginia stays home to face TCU on Jan. 14. Tip-off from the WVU Coliseum is set for 9 p.m.