WVU Leaves Texas 2-0 In League Play
January 05, 2015 09:53 PM | General
A balanced offensive attack featuring five double-figure scorers powered 14th-ranked West Virginia to a 78-67 victory over Texas Tech Monday night at United Supermarkets Arena in Lubbock, Texas.
Juwan Staten, back in the lineup tonight after missing Saturday’s game at TCU because of a flu-like virus, scored 16 points, although he was just 6-of-15 from the floor and 3-of-8 from the free throw line.
Staten appeared to be still under the weather a little bit during tonight’s game, though.
“The best thing about tonight is we won and we don’t have to come back here this year,” said West Virginia coach Bob Huggins.
Sophomore forward Devin Williams played another strong game tonight, scoring 14 points and grabbing six rebounds. It was Williams who Huggins chose to go to early in the second half when the Mountaineer offense was stagnant and the game was tied.
Williams scored the first five points after intermission before the rest of the team warmed up, Staten, Daxter Miles Jr., Gary Browne and Staten hitting field goals in succession to help the Mountaineers build an eight-point lead.
“We wanted to throw the ball to (Williams) and kind of get him going,” said Huggins. “He played a really good second half. In the second half he let the game come to him.”
West Virginia’s biggest lead was 15 with 10 minutes remaining. The margin never dipped below eight the rest of the way.
The Mountaineers nearly shot as well from the floor (48.6 percent) as they did from the free throw line (56.0 percent), but fortunately, Texas Tech was also shooting bricks. The Red Raiders missed 15 free throws and finished the game shooting 59.5 percent from the line.
“That was two bad shooting teams here today,” said Huggins. “We go 14-of-25 from the free throw line and they go 22-of-37. That’s bad shooting.”
Freshman guard Jevon Carter had a nice stat line for the Mountaineers: 11 points, three rebounds, two assists and four steals in 21 minutes of action.
West Virginia forced Tech into 22 turnovers and had a 63-46 advantage in field goal attempts.
The two teams were even on the glass, 35-35.
Devaugntah Williams led everyone with 21 points, going 8-of-11 from the floor and 3-of-4 from 3. Toddrick Gotcher added 14 for the Red Raiders, now 10-5, 0-2.
West Virginia’s streak of producing at least 10 steals in each game this season ended tonight, the Mountaineers finishing with nine.
“We’ve got to get back to doing some better things fundamentally in the half court,” said Huggins. “We fouled them. You run out there and the guy puts it on the floor and you grab him with two hands and they are going to call a foul.”
West Virginia’s two-game Texas road swing was a successful one and now the Mountaineers return to Morgantown to face 17th-ranked Iowa State on Saturday night at the WVU Coliseum in an 8 p.m. game that will be one of the showcase games in college basketball this weekend.
The contest will be televised nationally on ESPN2.
Last year, the two teams split games, WVU defeating the Cyclones by 25 in Morgantown and losing by 17 in Ames.
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