Terrence Shannon Jr. scored a season-best 23 points to help No. 18 Texas Tech record a 78-65 victory over West Virginia in Big 12 play on Saturday in Lubbock, Texas.
Taz Sherman scored 21 points for the Mountaineers (13-5, 2-4 Big 12).
Texas Tech (15-4, 5-2) struggled to put the ball through the net most of the second half against gritty West Virginia. But when the Red Raiders needed the ball to go down, the ball wound up in the right hands on back-to-back possessions that turned the tide.
Bryson Williams and Shannon pumped in 3-pointers to help Texas Tech erase a 54-53 deficit and the Mountaineers never recovered in a third straight league loss.
The Red Raiders had just regained a 56-54 lead on Shannon’s three-point play on a drive to the hoop when Williams worked his way wide open to the left of the top of the key and buried his team’s first 3 of the half after Texas Tech missed 15 of its first 17 tries. The Red Raiders were also 7-for-28 shooting overall in the second half at that juncture.
Dimon Carrigan hit a follow shot to pull West Virginia back within 59-56 before Shannon spotted up from the left wing and drilled the first of his two treys in a 48-second span for a 65-56 lead.
West Virginia got as close as 70-64 with 1:45 to play and had a chance to draw closer but Sherman missed a layup with 1:30 on the clock and turned the ball over in the paint moments later to allow the Red Raiders to close out the win.
Shannon produced his best game since returning from a back injury that put him on the shelf for seven games. He was 7-of-12 shooting from the field and 6-of-7 from the free-throw line. Kevin Obanor scored 18 points and Williams added 13.
Sherman was the scoring leader for the Mountaineers but he was also tagged with six of his team’s 17 turnovers.
Texas Tech carved out a 36-34 halftime lead with Obanor and Shannon each scoring 10 points, combining to make 6 of 12 floor shots while the rest of the team was 5 of 13.
–Field Level Media
