MORGANTOWN, W. Va. — Welcome back to the Big 12 season, where 12th-ranked West Virginia (16-3, 4-2 Big 12) travels to the worst-named arena in the conference, the United Supermarkets Arena, in Lubbock, Texas.
Texas Tech (12-7, 3-3), fresh off an overtime loss to Kentucky that knocked the Red Raiders out of the AP Top 25, will be waiting. WVU is 4-3 all-time at Texas Tech, but have lost three straight, including an 81-50 beating here last season.
It is that three-game losing streak, as well as life on the road in the Big 12 with a young team, that weighed heavily on Bob Huggins’ mind during his media call on Tuesday.
In explaining his thoughts, Huggins told a story from his younger years at Cincinnati, when the Bearcats lost a game against Indiana and then-coach Bob Knight.
“We lost to Indiana at home and we were up at halftime,” Huggins began. “They came back to beat us in the second half in a close game. I went down to shake coach Knight’s hand at the end of the game and he said, ‘This wasn’t fair to your kids.’ “
Knight went on to explain that his team was routinely in road games where it played with a target on its back and his players weren’t in awe of the situation.
“I’m thinking, ‘What an asinine thing to say to a guy that just got beat,’ ” Huggins said. “But you know what? He’s 100% right. As we got better and grew up as a team and as a program, we took everybody’s best shot.”
The Mountaineers, as young as their roster may be this season, are in a position to become their opponents’ circled games on the schedule. Any victory over WVU right now could be enough to get teams off the NCAA tournament bubble or solidify a high seed in the tournament and Huggins is worried about his team responding to that on a game-to-game basis.
“That’s where we’ve got to get to,” Huggins said. “You know, the fact that this is it and we have to rise to the occasion. That’s where we are right now.”
As always, here’s what you need to know:
TV: ESPN+ (Online subscription only) for the 8 p.m. game. After today, there are just three more remaining ESPN+ games this season for WVU (the two Baylor games and the Feb. 12 home game against Kansas). BETTING LINE: Texas Tech is a 2.5-point favorite.
PROJECTED STARTING LINEUPS
WEST VIRGINIA
F–Emmitt Matthews Jr., Soph., 6-7, 210, 6.9 ppg. F–Oscar Tshiebwe, Fr., 6-9, 258, 11.8 ppg. F–Derek Culver, Soph., 6-10, 255, 10.4 ppg. G–Jermaine Haley, Sr., 6-7, 215, 9.4 ppg. G–Jordan McCabe, Soph., 6-0, 188 3.4 ppg.
TEXAS TECH
F–TJ Holyfield, Sr., 6-8, 225, 8.5 ppg. G–Kyler Edwards, Soph., 6-4, 200, 12.2 ppg. G–Terrence Shannon, Fr., 6-6, 210, 11.5 ppg. G–Jahmi’us Ramsey, Fr., 6-4, 195, 14.9 ppg. G–Davide Moretti, Jr., 6-3, 180, 13.1 ppg.
WVU AS A NO. 2 SEED?
Yes, it is still January and a lot can happen between now and the Big 12 tournament in March. This is the current projection by ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, the second time he’s projected the Mountaineers as a No. 2 seed this season. The first time was before WVU fell on the road against Kansas State on Jan. 18.
“If you go into our film room and see all their goals and all of the things they want to accomplish, then we need to go to Lubbock and win,” Huggins said. “We have go to learn that we’re getting to the point where we’re going to take everybody’s best shot. We’re a ranked team. We’ve been a ranked team. There’s talk of a No. 2 seed in the (NCAA) tournament. We’re resume builders for other people and we’ve got to learn to handle that. Obviously, the last time we were presented with it, we didn’t handle it.”
THREE GOOD QUESTIONS
Is Emmitt Matthews Jr. good to go? The WVU sophomore forward took a hard spill to the floor on Saturday against Missouri and sat out the rest of the game. Huggins said Matthews was fine.
“He’s fine,” Huggins said. “Whatever happened, he’s making shots again. So, I think the next time he starts missing shots, I may tackle him.”
Can Terrence Shannon Jr. make a difference in this game? The Texas Tech freshman missed the first game against WVU with a back injury. He has averaged 11.0 points per game since his return.
“He’s a stretch-four and they play him sometimes at (center),” Huggins said. “He’s a mismatch for most bigs, because he bounces it so well. Fortunately for our bigs, our non-conference schedule helped us, in that Derek and Oscar had to go out on the floor and guard.”
What’s up with Jermaine Haley? Since that loss to Kansas State, Haley has shot 59% percent from the floor and has become a much better rebounder, too. The senior is starting to look like the Haley we saw toward the end of last season. Some of it may be the senior sees the end of his college career closing in, so he’s stepped up his game. His teammates said he spoke up after that loss to K-State and has become a more vocal leader.
“We don’t want to lose any game, but I can tell guys are a lot more serious,” after the loss to K-State, Haley said. “I think guys were feeling a little too good about themselves, which is understandable, because we have a lot of young guys. Every game is going to be hard in the Big 12. I think our guys understand that a little better now.”
PREDICTION TIME
Texas Tech’s season is on the line right now. The Red Raiders are trying to avoid a three-game losing streak and a win gets them right back into the conversation for a good seed in the NCAA tournament. It’s hard not to notice how well West Virginia has played lately, so I’ll go with a WVU win and a cover, 68-61.
JUSTIN’S SEASON PREDICTIONS AGAINST THE SPREAD: 6-10.
TWEET @bigjax3211
