WVU Coach Bob Huggins Expects Another Close Game in Rematch Vs. Texas Tech

It was just two weeks ago when West Virginia University sophomore Miles “Deuce” McBride made a game-winning layup over Texas Tech’s Marcus Santos-Silva that propelled the Mountaineers over the then-No. 10 Red Raiders. Since then, Texas Tech has not lost, winning three-straight games against LSU, Oklahoma and Kansas State and are now set to host the Mountaineers for a rematch on Tuesday.

WVU coach Bob Huggins said he expects Tuesday’s game to be as close as the first meeting.

“They play hard,” Huggins said Monday. “They have so many people who are kind of the same. They’re all 6-4, 6-5, they’re all strong, they all can play inside and outside and they bother you with length.”

The Red Raiders are led by guard Mac McClung, who scored 30 points against the Mountaineers the first time around. McClung is second in the Big 12, averaging 17.2 points per game, but had a down night when TTU played the Sooners last Monday. The junior scored just six points and was held without a field goal for the first time this season.

“When scorers have a bad night it’s generally a combination of things,” Huggins said of McClung. “You don’t shoot it well every game, nobody does. I think it was a combination of he wasn’t shooting it as well and they did a great job [defending] him.”

Sophomore Terrence Shannon Jr. is Texas Tech’s second scoring option, averaging 13 points per game and reaching double figures in three of the team’s last four games.

Tuesday’s game will tip-off at 9 p.m. in Lubbock, Texas, WVU’s longest road trip of the season. Huggins said he dislikes playing late games on the road and does not think the schedule makers in the Big 12 understand what those games are like for the Mountaineers.

“What I’d like for them to do is just ride with us a few times,” Huggins said. “We’re going to get home at 5 o’clock [a.m.] or later and then our guys have to go to class and go to study hall. I’d like for those [Big 12] guys to have to go to class and not fall asleep, go to study hall and not be groggy.”

The top-15 matchup between No. 14 WVU and No. 7 Texas Tech will be broadcast on ESPN.