Huggins not surprised by Texas Tech's success

Both West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins and Texas Tech head coach Tubby Smith have something in common.

Before the start of the season, neither team was highly thought of in the Big 12 preseason poll. Coming off a Sweet 16 run, West Virginia was picked to finish sixth in the league and off a rebuilding year, Texas Tech was slated to finish last.

Currently, with only two games remaining in the regular season, both teams have exceeded expectations. West Virginia sits second in the standings while Texas Tech is guaranteed at least a seventh place finish.

The two teams meet in Morgantown on Wednesday night.

“I didn’t pick them last, for the record,” Huggins said during the Big 12 coaches teleconference Monday morning.

“Anyone that knows Tubby (Smith), and Tubby and I go back a long way, knows that he would get it going. It was a matter of those guys he recruited being able to mature a bit and understand what he wanted done.”

Over the last month both Texas Tech and West Virginia each have three wins against ranked opponents.

During February, Texas Tech improved defensively, giving up more than 80 points only once throughout the whole month. Texas Tech also held Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, Baylor, Kansas and Texas below 70 points.

“I think they (Texas Tech) do a terrific job defensively. They keep you off balance,” Huggins said.

“They have been playing really well as a team and am I surprised? No, I’m not surprised, not one bit.”

West Virginia sees the matchup as a challenge for its offense considering the postseason is around the corner. With the Big 12 tournament beginning next week, Huggins wants his offense to be peaking at the right time.

“We’ve got to be more consistent. Our execution at times still isn’t good and we have to do a better job in transition,” Huggins said.

Forward Nate Adrian is one player Huggins remains encouraged by offensively.

Adrian has made 14 of 22 three-pointers since entering the starting lineup ten games ago. The Morgantown native has also made at least one three in each of those ten starts.

“There wasn’t a lot wrong with his shot, but he’s fixed some things mechanically,” Huggins added. “And the honest real truth is that he’s spent a lot of time in the gym. He’s gone in and really worked at shooting the ball and he’s worked on shooting game shots, which is just as important.”