MORGANTOWN — West Virginia’s bench was the offensive star Wednesday, but the Mountaineers’ starting five struggled during a 62-59 loss against No. 11 Texas Tech.
With Beetle Bolden, Derek Culver and Lamont West all coming off the bench, West Virginia’s non-starters poured in 48 points, but the Mountaineers’ starting five went a combined 3 of 19 from the field for 11 points.
West, Bolden and Culver combined for 13 of 21 shooting for 43 points.
“Our backs are against the wall,” West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said. “We have put ourselves in a situation where our backs are against the wall. Historically, other than the one year {2012-13), when our backs are against the wall, we would come out fighting like hell. We came out competitive.
“People say, ‘Well, do they really want to win?’ Everybody wants to win. Do they really hate to lose? Do they despise losing? It doesn’t look like it.”
Huggins on the no-call
When Bolden appeared to have drawn an offensive foul on Texas Tech guard Jarrett Culver with 3.3 seconds left, it could have set up the Mountaineers with an opportunity to tie or win the game with a 3-pointer.
Instead, the referees let play continue and Davide Moretti was eventually fouled.
“When you jump in the air and run over a guy — and the guy is stationary — when you leave the ground and jump forward, it’s generally a charge,” Huggins said. “But, I haven’t seen it on tape and I didn’t have near the look that the officials had.”
Injury note
Huggins sat Bolden for a long stretch of the second half, because the junior guard had re-injured his left hand.
Bolden played 20 minutes in all and scored nine points on 4 of 8 shooting.
Getting shots
Texas Tech came into the game as the top defensive team in the Big 12, holding opponents to less than 53 points per game.
“Their defense was really good, but we were able to work the ball around like we had worked on all week,” West Virginia guard Jermaine Haley said. “I think we got most of the shots we expected to get.”
Big lineup
For a second consecutive game, Huggins went with Jordan McCabe as the starting point guard, but McCabe played only two minutes and was replaced early on after giving up a drive to the basket.
Huggins eventually went with a bigger lineup of Haley (6-foot-5), as well as forwards West, Culver, Wes Harris and Esa Ahmad.
“I think I went big, because I was tired of the little guys standing on the side of their guy and get straight-line driven,” Huggins said. “This game’s about straight lines, and we just give them up there, and we don’t make people work for them. I’m tired of telling them. I’m tired of trying to coach them, and it’s just going to come down to if you get a straight-line drive on you, just come sit down and give someone else a try.”
