West Virginia’s Three Keys to Brew Up Another Top 10 Upset in Lubbock
Saturday afternoon, the West Virginia Mountaineers have an opportunity to juice up their NCAA Tournament resume by beating No. 9 Texas Tech on the road.
By looking at the two sides on paper, the Mountaineers have no business winning this game or even staying within reach deep in the second half if we’re being honest. Even in their win over Cincinnati on Wednesday, they didn’t play their best basketball and are lucky that freshman Tyler Betsy didn’t drain that three at the buzzer to send the game to overtime.
West Virginia has lost six of its last nine games and 1-3 on the road during that stretch, with the only win coming against Cincinnati. But the good news is that games aren’t played on paper. If that were the case, WVU would be nowhere near the 16-10 record they have entering this weekend.
Darian DeVries always tends to have his group ready to go, especially against a top-tier opponent like Texas Tech. Even in the two double-digit losses to Houston, they made it interesting at different junctures of the second half. Why should we expect anything different on Saturday?
Texas Tech is coming off a surprising road loss to TCU and could be looking ahead to their two big-time matchups with Houston and Kansas. The Mountaineers will have a chance, but what will be the recipe to get the job done?
Key No. 1: Free up Javon Small
This could be a key for every single game, but it’s going to be crucial in this one, where the Mountaineers are really going to have to score it to have a chance. Yes, the player pictured above is Jonathan Powell and not Javon Small. He and Amani Hansberry are the two guys that can help accomplish this goal.
Hansberry and Powell were both great down the stretch in their win over Cincinnati. They had confidence in their shot and were able to draw some of the attention away from Small. If they can carry that into this one, it’ll go a long, long way.
Key No. 2: Cash in on second chance opportunities
Texas Tech does a lot of things well and at a high level, but defensive rebounding has not been their strong suit. In fact, they rank 125th nationally in the category, averaging 23.3 per game.
While WVU has had its fair share of struggles on the glass this season, they’ve been much more competitive of late, including in the win over Cincy, where they pulled down 12 offensive boards, leading to several second-chance opportunities. When you’re playing a high-powered offense like Texas Tech’s, you have to maximize your possessions by getting offensive rebounds, trips to the foul line, or both.
Key No. 3: Run Tech off the line
Enter Sencire Harris. He’s going to be the difference-maker on this end of the floor, per usual, but he needs some help. The Red Raiders shoot the three-ball at a 38.3% clip, which is second-best in the Big 12 behind only Houston.
Chance McMillan (45.1%) and Christian Anderson (40.2%) are the ones the Mountaineers have to worry most about, but just about everyone that touches the floor for them, aside from Federiko Federiko has the ability to step out and knock down shots. Forcing Tech to drive the ball needs to be the gameplan although WVU doesn’t have much rim protection. If anything, every three must be contested.
