MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia, up three spots to No. 11 in today's Associated Press Top 25 poll, faces No. 10 Texas Tech tonight in a Big 12 showdown at the WVU Coliseum.
 
The Mountaineers (10-4, 3-3) are coming off a 22-point road win at Kansas State on Saturday – West Virginia's biggest road victory since joining the Big 12 eight years ago and its biggest conference road win since defeating Seton Hall by 26 points in 2009.
 
Sophomore guard Deuce McBride led WVU with 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting. Freshman forward Jalen Bridges contributed 12 points while senior guard Taz Sherman added 10.
 
Veteran coach Bob Huggins thought Saturday's win was important for his team because he didn't know what to expect after being idle for two weeks because of COVID-19 protocols.
 
"I thought (the Kansas State win) was the biggest of the year because we were coming off a game we would have and should have won," Huggins said. "Then we get hit with the COVID-19 stuff. We had a time where we were basically down to four guys, not all because of COVID, but the contact tracing and everything that goes along with it.
 
"We had a guy who needed some rest who was hurting, so we basically had four guys, and it's hard to get anything done with just four."
 
It was West Virginia's first game since Jan. 9 when it lost 72-70 to Texas on a last-second shot. As a result, Huggins inserted Sherman and Jordan McCabe into the starting lineup and opted to bring Emmitt Matthews Jr. and Sean McNeil off the bench against the Wildcats.
 
"I didn't know who we were going to have until (last Friday afternoon)," Huggins said. 
 
Matthews played just nine minutes while McNeil logged 20 minutes of court time. Matthews and junior forward Derek Culver practiced for the first time since the pause last Friday and were rusty against the Wildcats.
 
Culver was just 2-of-8 from the floor for six points while grabbing just four rebounds in 21 minutes of work before fouling out. Matthews scored four points in severely limited action.
 
"I thought the guys that got to work out were pretty good," Huggins said. "The guys that didn't get to work out, or weren't able to work out because of COVID, they struggled. We've got to get those guys back into playing shape, and it's hard to do with the schedule we've got coming up."
 
West Virginia is facing a well-rested 11-4 Red Raider team that hasn't played since last Saturday when it lost 68-60 to No. 2 Baylor.
 
Texas Tech's game against Iowa State in Lubbock two days ago was canceled because of COVID-19 issues within the Cyclone program.
 
The Red Raiders played even with the Bears in the second half after falling behind by eight at halftime. Georgetown transfer Mac McClung led Tech with 24 points while Kevin McCullar added 10.
 
McClung is one of three transfers on a Red Raider roster that features players from just about everywhere. Guard Jamarius Burton previously played at Wichita State and is originally from Charlotte, North Carolina, while forward Marcus Santos-Silva began his college career at VCU after starring at Taunton High in Taunton, Massachusetts.
 
Coach Chris Beard also has players from Chicago, Illinois, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Springdale, Arkansas, San Diego, California, Montreuil, France and Nalchick, Russia.
 
Only three Red Raider players hail from the Lone Star State this year.
 
McClung, from Gate City, Virginia, has a been a big boost to Tech by averaging a team-best 16.3 points, including 19.7 points-per-game in Big 12 play this year. He recently scored 22 points and hit the game-winning shot in Texas Tech's 79-77 win at fifth-ranked Texas back on Jan. 13. 
 
Chicago sophomore guard Terrence Shannon Jr. is averaging 12.8 points and five rebounds per game.
 
McCullar, from San Antonio, Texas, is averaging 11.2 points and 7.2 rebounds while guard Kyler Edwards, from Arlington, Texas, is scoring at a 10.1 points-per-game clip. 
 
Tech used a four-guard lineup against Baylor with 6-foot-8 senior Santos-Silva patrolling the paint. Micah Peavy (6-7), McCullar (6-6) and Edwards (6-4) will present matchup issues in the backcourt with their size, as will 6-foot-6 Shannon.
 
Six-foot-8 freshman forward Tyreek Smith has been giving Beard about eight minutes of action coming off the bench to spell Santos-Silva.
 
Last year, the two teams split games with Texas Tech winning 89-81 in Lubbock and losing 66-54 in Morgantown.
 
Tech's only victory in Morgantown came on Jan. 2, 2019 when it held on for a 62-59 win. West Virginia is 7-1 against Texas Tech at the WVU Coliseum and owns a 14-6 edge in all-time series play.
 
Tonight's game will tip off at 9 p.m. and will be televised nationally as part of ESPN's Big Monday lineup.
 
Mountaineer Sports Network from Learfield IMG College radio coverage will begin at 8 p.m. on stations throughout West Virginia and online via WVUsports.com and the popular mobile app WVU Gameday.
 
No fans will be permitted to attend tonight's game, but local and state health department officials announced last Friday that a limited number of fans will be allowed to attend Saturday's SEC/Big 12 Challenge game against Florida.