MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Not since the days of carving up nonconference cupcakes has West Virginia enjoyed such an extended run of hot shooting.
The Mountaineers sank 69 percent of their second-half shots Wednesday night, and as is so often the case against Texas Tech, they needed virtually every one. After an 87-81 victory at the Coliseum, Eron Harris reveled in the offensive teamwork.
“Everybody was getting involved,” said Harris, who scored 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting. “We were just playing team ball.”
He knocked down three 3-pointers in the game’s first five minutes and then happily settled for playing a supporting role to Terry Henderson’s career-high 28 points.
“We knew they were outstanding shooters,” said Texas Tech coach Tubby Smith, whose Red Raiders allowed 89 points to WVU in the first meeting earlier this month.
“Certain guys, like Henderson, we tell them to make them put (the ball) on the floor, but I guess some of our guys did not understand the scouting report. That’s all I can say.”
With Henderson going 5-of-6 and Nate Adrian pitching in 3-of-7, West Virginia sank 11-of-20 from 3-point range (55 percent), its best long-distance shooting performance since making 10-of-18 (59 percent) in the Dec. 2 blasting of Loyola-Maryland—which happened to be coached by Tubby’s son, G.G. Smith.
“We just did not have enough firepower,” Tubby said. “West Virginia’s guys stepped up.”