West Virginia Basketball: Mountaineers Squander Close First Half in Loss to #9 Red Raiders

West Virginia Mountaineers (16-11, 7-9 Big 12) entered halftime down 30-27 against #9 Texas Tech (21-6, 12-4 Big 12), a team they face only once this season. Halftime adjustments that were (or weren’t) made for both teams resulted in the Red Raiders surging to a 73-51 victory over the Mountaineers, outscoring them 43-24 in the second half.

Mountaineers Shooting Woes

West Virginia had a forgettable day shooting the ball in a contest that saw them hit only 19/58 shots from the field to include going 6/27 from 3 point range. Things didn’t improve at the free throw line either, as the Mountaineers were only able to convert 7/11. Texas Tech comparatively hit nearly half of their shots at 46.4% shooting from the field and 12/15 from the charity stripe.

Quiet Day from Star Senior

West Virginia leading guard Javon Small had an untypical day for the Mountaineers, as he scored just 10 points on 3/14 shooting. Small is currently the second leading scorer in the Big 12 at 18.5 PPG, and could not seem to find his rhythm throughout the game. Sophomore forward Amani Hansberry posted a double-double in the loss, scoring 14 points and grabbing 11 rebounds as one of the few positive takeaways from todays game. The remaining starters managed to score 11 points on 4/15 shooting.

Darian DeVries Postgame Comments

Mountaineers head coach Darian DeVries sat down with reporters for his customary post-game interview, saying that West Virginia will learn from the loss and move on, as has been the mindset all season. “I mean for us it’s always been like win (or) lose, learn from it and move on”. DeVries added “we got TCU up next, that’ll be our focus. We care about the next one in front of us”.

Upcoming Schedule

The Mountaineers will return home to face the TCU Horned Frogs (15-12, 8-8 Big 12) to close out February before traveling to BYU (18-8, 9-6 Big 12). West Virginia has already played both teams once, losing to each earlier this season.

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