MORGANTOWN — That quick stop and step back you’ve seen before from Joe Toussaint, it was just while he was in a West Virginia jersey.
That wasn’t the case Saturday night in the Coliseum, as Texas Tech came from down 16 points early in the first half and knocked off the Mountaineers going away 81-70.
Toussaint, one of four players who decided to transfer out of WVU following Bob Huggins’ resignation last June, made a triumphant return to Morgantown with 21 points and seven assists.
“I wasn’t really thinking about it like that,” he said afterward.
Many in the Coliseum were. Shouts of “traitor” among other things were heard as the Bronx, N.Y. native warmed up before the game. He was booed numerous times during the game.
“I thought it was just another game on the East Coast,” said Toussaint, who had 13 family members in the crowd to watch him play. “I was just happy that my family came to see me. I was glad my dad and my brothers came here to support me.”
They saw an interesting turn of events, as Texas Tech (20-9, 9-7 Big 12) fell behind 20-4 after the Red Raiders made just one of their first 11 shots.
“We made some really tough shots early,” WVU head coach Josh Eilert said. “I wouldn’t say they were good clean looks but sometimes it’s a little bit fool’s gold when you make tough shots early. You kind of get a confidence that is kind of a false confidence, so to speak.”
Toussaint spent one season at WVU, having transferred from Iowa. He does hold a college degree from WVU, but he entered his name into the transfer portal in the days after Huggins’ resignation and before Eilert was named the interim coach.
“It was weird and a lot of things were going on,” Toussaint said. “Me and my family didn’t know what was going on. We thought our best bet was to hit the transfer portal to see what we could get.”
His 21 points tied a season high and was just one point off from his WVU high of 22 points last season, oddly enough coming against Texas Tech.
“It was kind of fun going out and competing against a former teammate,” said WVU guard Kobe Johnson, who had eight points and four assists. “Tonight was a good night to go out and compete against him.”
Texas Tech had already erased the bulk of the deficit before halftime.
It took less than five minutes into the second half for WVU (9-20, 4-12) to give it all up.
Chance McMillian’s 3-pointer with 7:28 remaining gave Texas Tech a 66-63 lead and the Red Raiders never trailed again.
The loss was WVU’s third in a row and seventh in its last eight games. The Mountaineers are just one setback from tying the program record for most losses in a season.
This one you could sort of see coming, as Texas Tech continued to get more and more open looks in the second half.
“There were four or five of them that they were just crazy open,” Eilert said. “It was demoralizing how open they were.”
The Red Raiders finished with 13 3-pointers and shot 57% (16 of 28) in the second half. Texas Tech also got 16 more shots up than the Mountaineers.
“They got some extra shots there that helped them on their run,” Eilert said. “Anytime someone comes in and makes 13 threes and gets 16 more shots than you, good luck. It’s going to be a struggle to win that one.”
Jesse Edwards led WVU with 18 points and eight rebounds and RaeQuan Battle added 15, but 11 of those came in the first half. He attempted just four shots in the second half.
“I had 11 in the first half and then they hold me to four,” Battle said. “That’s unacceptable on my end. I do the best I can to make the shots I get, but there’s a lot that goes into it.”
