Strong Second Half Leads Texas Tech Over West Virginia

Saturday, February 22

Lubbock, Texas

1 p.m.

West Virginia University

16-11,7-9Big 12

Texas Tech

21-6,12-4Big 12

West Virginia

Texas Tech

Photo by: WVU Athletic Communications

February 22, 2025 03:35 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: John Antonik

JT Toppin scored 22 points and Christian Anderson added 21 in No. 9 Texas Tech's 73-51 victory over West Virginia Saturday afternoon at United Supermarkets Arena in Lubbock, Texas.

Toppin and Anderson scored 16 points each in the second half while the Red Raiders shot 62.5% and converted on 62.1% of their possessions after intermission.

Tech's biggest lead was 24 right before Eduardo Andre's basket with four seconds left in the game.

"They shot 62% in the second half and that's where the game got away from us," West Virginia coach Darian DeVries said afterward. "We can survive some scoring droughts, but not if our defense isn't really hooked up. In the first half they shot 34% and scored 30 points and we were right where we needed to be."

West Virginia (16-11, 7-9) had a 24-15 lead with 5:25 left in the first half on Amani Hansberry's 3, but added just one more Hansberry triple over the final 5:25 as Tech began to take control of the game.

The Red Raiders (21-6, 12-4) finished the first half on a 15-3 run and scored eight of the first 10 points of the second half to assume full control.

Tech's margin swelled to 11 on Anderson's 3 and then to 15 on two Toppin free throws with 7:59 remaining.

"I felt we did a really good job early," DeVries said. "Those first 15 minutes we were kind of controlling the offense, getting some paint touches, some movement and really getting quality shots. Then defensively, I thought we were really good and locked into what we were willing to give up.

"Then we had two possessions in a row when we took really quick ones that led to their transition right off of it and that really swung that half," DeVries said.

The Mountaineers shot 32.8% overall and 22.2% from 3 for the game, while getting out-boarded 41 to 31. West Virginia committed 16 fouls to Texas Tech's nine, and when Javon Small got his second with 7:05 left in the first half, that really took the wind out of its sails.

"That was a big play for us when he picked up that second one in the first half because I thought we had the game going exactly how we envisioned it," DeVries said. "We kept them out of transition, made them guard us side to side in the halfcourt, got some paint touches and then we got away from that and got a little 3 happy."

Small finished with 10 points on three-of-14 shooting, four below Hansberry's 14. The forward ended the game six-of-12 from the floor and got all but two of his points in the first half.

Elijah Hawkins and Kevin Overton had 10 each for the winners.

"They ran all the exact same plays, the three or four that they go to; they ran them over and over and in the first half we did a good job of fighting catches, walling up and making it tough on them and in the second half our defense wasn't nearly as stout as we were in the first half," DeVries said.

West Virginia has a quick turnaround, facing TCU on Tuesday night at the WVU Coliseum. The Horned Frogs lost at Cincinnati earlier today.