WVU downs Texas Tech, 79-74, moves to Big 12 semifinals

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West Virginia (14-19) will play in the Big 12 Tournament semifinals for the fourth straight season after pulling off a 79-74 upset win over No. 2-seeded Texas Tech (26-6) Thursday night in Kansas City.

The 10th-seeded Mountaineers used a big first half run and tough all-around effort to take down the Red Raiders. West Virginia was able to hold on despite a second half Texas Tech rally and finished the game with a plus-10 edge in shot attempts and 44-30 advantage on the glass.

Freshman Emmitt Matthews led the Mountaineers with a career-high 28 points and Jarrett Culver led the Red Raiders with 26 points.

Davide Moretti got things started with a jumper to put Texas Tech ahead early, 2-0. A steal and dunk from Jarrett Culver extended the Red Raiders’ lead to four points. A pair of free throws from Derek Culver then put West Virginia on the board and after a missed dunk from Lamont West, Matthews nailed a three-pointer to give the Mountaineers a 5-4 lead.

Texas Tech answered back with a three-pointer of its own from Moretti and a basket from West Virginia’s Jermaine Haley tied the game at 7-all.

This began a furious 23-4 run for West Virginia in which the Mountaineers dominated the Red Raiders offensively, defensively and on the glass. This large run from the Mountaineers gave West Virginia a 28-11 lead with 9:28 left until halftime.

A couple of baskets from Texas Tech made it a 13-point game in favor of the Mountaineers and after a layup from Matthews and three-pointer from Matt Mooney, West Virginia maintained its double-digit lead with a three-point play from Matthews.

The Red Raiders fought back and used an 11-0 run to cut West Virginia’s lead down to single digits at 33-29 with less than two minutes left in the first half.

Matthews, though, closed the first half with five straight points including another three-point play to put the Mountaineers ahead by a score of 38-29 at halftime.

The second half started with some back-and-forth scoring as West Virginia held a 46-33 lead after two free throws from Haley with 16:14 left to play.

Three free throws from Jarrett Culver then cut West Virginia’s lead down to 10 points. The Mountaineers were able to answer each basket and run from Texas Tech and held a 58-44 lead over the Red Raiders at the 12:13 mark after a three-pointer from Chase Harler.

Mooney then hit his second three-pointer of the game which was followed by a jumper from Matthews for his 23rd-point, extending West Virginia’s lead to 13 points and ending a two-minute-plus scoring drought for the Mountaineers.

Matthews then hit another three-pointer for West Virginia, but Texas Tech was quick to respond as Mooney sunk a pair of free throws and nailed another three-pointer to bring Texas Tech to within 11 points with 7:34 left.

A layup from Jarrett Culver capped off a 7-0 run for Texas Tech that was followed by a pair of free throws from Haley. Culver then added another basket to cut Texas Tech’s deficit to nine points at 65-56 with 5:40 to go.

The Red Raiders continued to fight back and rallied to make it a four-point game with a layup from Brandone Francis and a three-pointer from Moretti.

Jordan McCabe then ended Texas Tech’s run to make it a seven-point advantage for West Virginia at the 3:51 mark.

An 8-0 run from Texas Tech gave the Red Raiders their first lead since the first half at 69-68 near the two-minute mark.

Derek Culver hit two free throws for West Virginia to give the Mountaineers a one-point lead. Two free throws from Lamont West then gave West Virginia a 72-69 lead.

A basket from Jarrett Culver cut West Virginia's lead down to a point, but a three-point play from Haley gave the Mountaineers a four-point lead. Jarrett Culver then converted on a three-point play himself to make it a one-point game in favor of West Virginia with 22 seconds remaining.

McCabe then made two free throws to extend West Virginia's lead to 77-74. Texas Tech failed to score on its ensuing offensive possession which led to Matthews making a pair of free throws which would ultimately ice the game for West Virginia.

The Mountaineers will face the winner of the No. 3 seed Kansas/No. 6 seed Texas matchup tomorrow at 9 p.m. ET with a spot in the Big 12 Tournament Championship game on the line.

UPDATE: With Kansas defeating Texas, 65-57, No. 10-seeded West Virginia will face the No. 3-seeded Jayhawks Friday at 9 p.m. ET.

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