It’s the last run for many of West Virginia’s stars. On Wednesday, they made it clear they will take advantage of the opportunity.
No. 8 WVU’s seniors led the Mountaineers to a 78-62 victory over 9-seed Texas Tech in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, sending their team to the tournament quarterfinal against top-seeded Kansas. Kedrian Johnson motored WVU, notching his second straight 20-plus point game.
“Our turnovers are down, we’re rebounding the all better. I think we know each other better,” said WVU coach Bob Huggins. “I think we’re making plays now that we couldn’t make earlier because we thought they were going to zig and they zagged, and I think now we understand, a little better, each other.”
De’Vion Harmon put the Red Raiders ahead in the first two minutes, scoring four of his team’s first six points. He finished with 14 points, making 6 of his 14 shots from the field.
The Red Raiders built as much as a seven-point lead, but the Mountaineers responded by outscoring Texas Tech by 15 points over the next 16 minutes into halftime.
WVU took the lead for the first time around the midway point of the first half after Emmitt Matthews Jr. finished a layup, essentially handing the momentum to the Mountaineers for the remainder of the game. They even led by double-digits with three minutes left in the half, but a small run by the Red Raiders before halftime cut it to eight points at the break.
Texas Tech never threatened the Mountaineer lead in the second half and were again outscored by eight points after halftime.
The bulk of WVU’s scoring came from its starters, as the Mountaineers logged just four points from their bench. Johnson led the squad with 20 points and grabbed six rebounds, while pestering the Red Raiders for three steals and a block on defense.
“Keddy’s always been a leader…he’s been a great leader,” said WVU coach Bob Huggins. “Erik’s been a really good leader as well. We have a lot of upperclassmen that they know this is it and they want to make a run and so they’re trying to help the younger guys certainly get better and do the right things.”
Erik Stevenson broke his five-game streak of 20-plus point games to end the regular season, but still scored above his average with 18 points. Tre Mitchell notched 17 points with a game-high nine rebounds and Matthews chipped in 13.
Joe Toussaint recorded the only field goal among the reserves when he hit a 3-pointer in the second half.
Pop Isaacs paced Texas Tech with 15 points and shot 3 of 9 from behind the 3-point arc. Harmon and Kevin Obanor each added 14.
WVU doesn’t get much of a breather before its next game in the Big 12 Tournament as it punches its ticket to the quarterfinal on Thursday. The Mountaineers next line up against top-seeded and third-ranked Kansas at 3 p.m. ET.
