Red Raider Recap: No. 18 WVU 66, No. 14 Tech 63

Friday, March 9

Kansas City, Mo.

8:00 PM

Texas Tech Athletics

24-9

No. 18 West Virginia

24-9

No. 2/20/18 West Virginia

Texas Tech

Red Raider Recap: No. 18 WVU 66, No. 14 Tech 63

March 10, 2018 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score Highlights Coach Beard Press Conference

The Red Raiders drop a three-point decision during Friday’s semifinal round.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The trio of Jarrett Culver, Keenan Evans and Niem Stevenson secured 40 points, but the No. 14 Texas Tech men's basketball team was dealt a 66-63 defeat by No. 18 West Virginia in Friday's semifinal round at the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championships.

The Red Raiders (24-9) will turn their attention to Selection Sunday and the announcement of the NCAA Tournament Field of 68 which will air at 5 p.m. CT on TBS. West Virginia (24-9) secures its spot in its third consecutive conference tournament final.

I just want to congratulate West Virginia on a good, hard-fought win," Texas Tech head coach Chris Beard said. "You know, we got a lot of respect for Coach Huggins and their staff. From our standpoint, we felt like it was an ugly game. But West Virginia makes you play ugly with their toughness, their physicality and the way they throw the ball inside. So give them the credit. It's a disappointing loss for us because it's a weird stat sheet. We make more field goals, we outrebound them, we have a low turnover game against their press on a one-day prep, but we don't win the game. Two things come to mind, free throw line got us tonight. But that's basketball. Nobody shoots more free throws in practice or individual workouts than we do. So you win some, you lose some with that. But certainly disappointing."

Culver tallied 16 points, four rebounds and two steals. He has contributed double figures in five of his last seven games. Evans tallied 13 points and five rebounds followed by Stevenson's 11 points, four rebounds and two assists. Stevenson has garnered 10-plus points in three of his last four outings.

Tommy Hamilton IV turned in a solid all-around performance with five points, a career-best seven assists and two blocks whereas Justin Gray notched five points and seven rebounds.

Zach Smith notched four points, five rebounds and two assists. The senior forward became the 41st player in program history to eclipse 1,000 career points. Zhaire Smith picked up four points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals.

As a team, Texas Tech turned in a 23-for-51 shooting performance and hit on 6-for-15 from beyond the three-point line. The Red Raiders struggled from the foul line going 11-for-21.

West Virginia knocked down 22-of-55 from the field and 10-of-20 on three balls. The Mountaineers connected on 12-of-19 at the charity stripe. Jevon Carter and Daxter Miles, Jr. dialed up six of their combined nine treys during the second half. Miles finished a game-leading 22 points followed by Carter's 17 points and four assists.

Texas Tech controlled tempo early and built a 15-6 advantage with 13:04 remaining on the strength of eight consecutive points. Hamilton IV and Stevenson highlighted the run with triples.
The Mountaineers answered with a 9-0 run of their own to knot the score at 15-15 with 11:03 left. The two teams went back and forth with West Virginia taking a 27-26 edge into the locker room.

The Mountaineers stretched their advantage to 54-48 with 7:31 to go. Miles and Carter keyed the charged and teamed for six three-pointers during the stretch.

The Red Raiders didn't back down and drew event at 56-56 with 5:01 on the clock after a Stevenson trey from the left baseline. Texas Tech took a brief one-point edge, but missed a quartet of free throws inside the closing four minutes.

The Red Raiders had an opportunity to extend the game, but Stevenson's three-point attempt from half court bounced off the front rim as time expired.

"Letting their best two guards, Daxter Miles and Jevon Carter, get loose for that many three-point shots," Beard said. "There has to be some defensive mistakes there that we have to own. I feel like in a lot of ways we ran out of time. We really didn't get beat, so hopefully we will be on the better end of this in the national tournament."

UP NEXT
Texas Tech awaits the announcement of the NCAA Tournament Field of 68. The selection show coverage begins at 5 p.m. CT televised on TBS.

Visit www.TexasTech.com for the latest news and information on the men's basketball program. Fans also can follow the program on its social media outlets by liking TexasTechMBB on Facebook along with following @TexasTechMBB on Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat.