TCU Hands West Virginia Another Road Loss, 81-65

West Virginia completed their two-game road trip to Texas on Monday night, falling to TCU 81-65. This comes after WVU’s blowout loss to Texas over the weekend.

West Virginia (8-16, 3-8 Big12) struggled to take care of the ball, turning it over 19 times, a season-high. TCU (17-7, 6-5 Big 12) took advantage, scoring 26 off of those mistakes.

WVU G RaeQuan Battle connected on a corner three-pointer with two minutes to go in the first half to cut TCU’s lead to six. Battle was West Virginia’s most consistent scorer on Monday, finishing with 21 points on 7-of-17 shooting from the field. Battle was also able to stay out of foul trouble, which has been a problem for the Montana State transfer at times this season.

After Battle’s three, TCU ended the half on a 10-4 run, taking a 47-35 lead into the half.

WVU C Jesse Edwards was caught in foul trouble throughout the game. Edwards picked up a pair of flagrant-1 fouls, one in each half. Edwards struggled with six points and four rebounds on 1-of-6 shooting in 19 minutes.

West Virginia suffered a scoring drought in the first half that lasted over five minutes. WVU also turned the ball over four times during that span. At one point midway through the first frame, WVU had more turnovers (9) than field goals (5). TCU was able to take a comfortable lead but Battle and Kerr Kriisa got the Mountaineers right back into the game.

Kriisa has history with going back and forth with TCU fans from his playing time at Arizona. After their 2022 NCAA Tournament win over the Horned Frogs, Kriisa threw up TCU’s hand signal. Former TCU G Mike Miles Jr. mentioned on social media that he would be there in attendance on Monday. Miles and Kriisa also have had their history on social media.

Kriisa ended the game with 13 points, three rebounds and four assists.

With the loss, West Virginia now moves to 0-10 away from home this season. The Mountaineers also move to 2-22 in their last 24 Big 12 road games, dating back to the 2021-22 season.

West Virginia will head back home to play No. 13 Baylor on Saturday night. Former WVU F Jalen Bridges will be making his second return to his home state. WVU and Baylor will tip off at 6 p.m. on ESPN+.