West Virginia can't hold on against Texas Tech in 81-70 loss
West Virginia started out hot but couldn't hold on in the second half falling to Texas Tech 81-70 Saturday night inside the Coliseum.
The Mountaineers led by as many as 16 points in the first half, but the Red Raiders were able to rally and spoil the upset bid. Overall, West Virginia drops to 9-20 on the season and is stuck in last place in the Big 12 at 4-12 overall.
Center Jesse Edwards scored 18 points and grabbed 8 rebounds for West Virginia, while RaeQuan Battle had 15 and guard Kerr Kriisa had 10.
Joe Toussaint, who made his return to the Coliseum after spending last season with the Mountaineers, scored 21 for the Red Raiders.
Kobe Johnson opened the scoring after 1:30 with a three-pointer and then the Red Raiders would answer with a layup on the opposite end of the floor. The Mountaineers would then score 10 straight, with Kriisa netting 7 of those, to push the early lead to 13-2 entering the 14-minute mark of the first half.
After a Battle three-ball and an Edwards' layup the run would grow to 15-2 with the leading growing to 18-4 as West Virginia came out of the gates shooting 67-percent from the floor while holding the Red Raiders to 17-percent.
Texas Tech would settle in after that and use a 23-9 run to cut the deficit to just 29-27 with 6:42 remaining in the first half forcing Josh Eilert to take a timeout.
However, threes on three straight trips with two by Battle and another by Quinn Slazinski would give the Mountaineers a 38-30 lead with 4:35 remaining in the half. After another three-ball by Kriisa, the Mountaineers would start the game 8-11 from deep to propel themselves to a 41-30 lead over the visitors.
The Red Raiders would come back with their own 7-0 run before that was ended by a pair of Patrick Suemnick free throws to put the score at 43-37 with 1:07 left in the half. and the Mountaineers would take a six-point lead into the break at 45-39.
Edwards would open the second half with a layup but the Red Raiders would respond with another three-pointer to put the score at 47-42. But a Toussaint three-ball and a layup on the other end put the score at 47-all forcing another Eilert timeout with 17:35 left in the game.
Texas Tech would take their first lead of the game at the 15:35 mark on a three-pointer to put the Red Raiders ahead 52-50. And from there, Texas Tech would stretch their advantage to 56-51 with 14:10 left in the game.
The Mountaineers would recapture the lead at 57-56 after Toussaint was forced to go to the bench with three fouls, but the Red Raiders would answer with a three-ball to move back out front as the two teams exchanged blows.
Texas Tech would lead 63-61 with 7:49 left as the Mountaineers would use their final timeout. The two teams would then exchange baskets, with the Red Raiders holding a 70-66 edge with 6:17 remaining in the game.
The lead would swell to eight points with four minutes left to play as the Red Raiders used a 6-0 run to stretch out their advantage. And the Mountaineers would go four minutes without a field goal as the score sat at 77-68 with 2:08 left.
And from there, Texas Tech would close things out without West Virginia ever seriously threatening the lead.
The Mountaineers will close out the home portion of the schedule 7 p.m. Wednesday against TCU which will represent Senior Day for the program.
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