MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia returns to the WVU Coliseum on Tuesday night to face TCU in a rematch of a game the Mountaineers lost 65-60 to the Horned Frogs in Fort Worth, Texas, on Feb. 5.
 
That contest basically was decided at the free throw line where TCU made 20 of its 23 free throw attempts compared to just two-of-five for the Mountaineers.
 
West Virginia was called for 18 fouls to TCU's nine, and the two players who benefited the most were Horned Frogs Vasean Allette and Noah Reynolds, each going six-of-seven from the line.
 
Allette finished with a game-high 22 points, to go along with 11 rebounds and five assists, while Reynolds contributed 20, including two of TCU's three triples for the game.
 
The affair was tied four times and there were two lead changes.
 
West Virginia led 29-28 at the break.
 
"We let them get to the rim and we let them get to the free throw line, and the free-throw disparity in that game was rather large," West Virginia coach Darian DeVries said earlier today. "We can't have that and expect to win games, especially on the road. We've got to do a better job of keeping them off the free throw line and part of that is doing a better job of keeping the ball in front of us."
 
Since then, TCU lost at Iowa State before winning three straight against Oklahoma State, Arizona State and Texas Tech prior last Saturday's 75-63 loss at Cincinnati.
 
In that game, the Bearcats built a double-digit second half lead before holding on for the victory.
 
Freshman David Punch tallied 18 on eight-of-13 shooting to lead three double-digit Horned Frog scorers. Allette added 13 and Trazarien White came off the bench to score 10.
 
"I thought Cincinnati was really aggressive driving the ball," DeVries said after studying the tape. "They did a good job of getting downhill and putting pressure on the rim, and that's certainly something Cincinnati can do to you. 
 
"It was just one of those games where Cincy had some good things going offensively, and they were able to pull away in the second half," DeVries said.
 
Earlier that afternoon, West Virginia saw its nine-point lead against ninth-ranked Texas Tech evaporate over a five-minute stretch to end the half. The Red Raiders went on a 15-3 run and put the Mountaineers away in the second half to record a 73-51 victory in Lubbock.
 
Texas Tech shot 62.5% and converted on 62.1% of its second half possessions, while the Mountaineers shot a frigid 32.8% for the game.
 
Sophomore forward Amani Hansberry led West Virginia with 14 points, 12 of those coming in the first half. Senior guard Javon Small bore the brunt of the Red Raider defense and finished with 10. WVU lost its lead late in the first half soon after Small was whistled for his second foul.
 
Hansberry has tallied 31 points in his last two games to boost his season scoring average to 9.9 points per contest.
 
Small is the only healthy Mountaineer player averaging double digits at 18.2 points per game. He scored 20 the first time these two teams earlier this month.
 
Tuesday night's game is important for both teams' postseason hopes, particularly West Virginia, which was on ESPN.com's Last Four Byes line in its latest Bracketology three days ago.
 
West Virginia is No. 48 in Monday's NCAA NET Rankings, while TCU checks in at No. 74.
 
"Our only communication with our team about this is we are playing for something right now," DeVries said. "Right now, most people agree if the season were to end today, we're in the tournament. We've just got to continue to do our part to know that these are meaningful games and find ways to continue to try and put wins up there.
 
"Our next goal is to try and do that against TCU," DeVries added.
 
The Horned Frogs are 13-2 at home but just 2-7 in road games this season.
 
TCU, at 15-12 overall and 8-8 in Big 12 play, is one game ahead of West Virginia in the Big 12 standings. The Mountaineers are now 16-11 overall and 7-9 in league play.
 
TCU is tied with 8-8 Baylor in seventh place, while West Virginia is deadlocked with Utah and Kansas State in ninth.
 
The Mountaineers have games left at BYU and Utah before wrapping up the regular season back at the Coliseum on Wednesday, March 8 against UCF.
 
After Tuesday, TCU has games left against UCF, Baylor and Colorado.
 
A 9 p.m. tipoff has been assigned for Tuesday night's game, to be televised nationally on the CBS Sports Network.
 
Mountaineer Sports Network radio coverage with Tony Caridi, Brad Howe and studio host David Kahn gets things started at 8 p.m. on stations throughout West Virginia, online via WVUsports.com and the Varsity Network and WVU Gameday apps.
 
Tickets remain on sale and can be purchased through the Mountaineer Ticket Office by logging on to WVUGAME.com.