KANSAS CITY, Mo. — When deep-breathing Daxter Miles sank the first free throw, he smiled wide and pointed to the West Virginia crowd. His second attempt should’ve come easily, but nothing was easy against Texas Tech. Not even the final 6 seconds.
Only after Niem Stevenson’s halfcourt heave ricocheted off the rim could the Mountaineers celebrate a back-and-forth 66-63 victory in the Big 12 tournament semifinals.
“That’s just how tough the Big 12 is,” said Miles, who scored 14 of his 22 points during the second half. Jevon Carter delivered two late defensive stops to complement his 17 points as West Virginia (24-9) clinched a third consecutive trip to the championship game.
There, they’ll face a familiar nemesis, regular-season Kansas (26-7).
“We’re going to come to fight,” Carter said.
They sure had to fight against second-seeded Texas Tech (24-9).
BOXSCORE: West Virginia 66, Texas Tech 63
In a postseason setting made electric by the teams’ grittiness rather than silky execution, the Mountaineers didn’t approach their 80-points-per-game average and Red Raiders had to work to create shooting windows.
“We felt like was an ugly game,” Texas Tech coach Chris Beard said. “But West Virginia makes you play ugly with their toughness and physicality.”
While Beard liked that his team claimed a rebounding edge and committed only 10 turnovers against Press Virginia, he thought the combined f9-of-16 3-point shooting by Carter and Miles made the difference.
“Letting their best two guards get loose for that many shots, there has to be some defensive mistakes that we have to own,” he said. “If Miles and Carter shoot like that, they’ll walk in to the Sweet 16.”
MORE: Jevon Carter showed defensive smarts
With Texas Tech extending its defense, center Sagaba Konate scored in the low post on three crucial late possessions. He finished with 11 points, one after halftime.
“It feels great that they throw ball to me,” said the 6-foot-8 sophomore, who seems to be embracing the rugged play. “It’s like a war: Are they going to kill you or are you going to kill them?”
Just when it seemed that WVU had administered the killshot — leading 56-48 — Texas Tech required only 58 seconds for an 8-0 run that squared it at 56-56. As WVU coach Bob Huggins called timeout, Beard pumped two fists into the air on the opposite bench and brought Tech fans to a roar.
A free throw briefly gave the Red Raiders a 57-56 edge, but Carter countered by driving for the go-ahead basket while being fouled by Tech star Keenan Evans.
From there, Konate buried consecutive jumpers and made two free throws after collecting a rebound.
It was 65-63, when Evans was fouled on a basket with 56 seconds left. But the All-Big 12 guard missed the and-one free throw, part of his 3-of-8 night at the foul line. His team made only 11-of-21 overall.
“Free-throw line got us tonight,” Beard said.
It remained a two-point margin when Evans had a chance to seize the lead with 11 seconds left. But he misfired badly on a 3-pointer with under duress from Carter, the culmination of an 0-for-3 night from long range,
Jarrett Culver’s 16 points led Texas Tech (24-9), while Evans finished with 13.
With tight defense and familiarity forcing ballhandlers to go deep into the shot clock, both teams endured early droughts, with WVU taking a 27-26 edge into the half.
The best option for the Mountaineers became Miles firing up jumpers. Building on his 5-for-5 second-half shooting from the previous night, Miles ran his streak to eight consecutive makes.
When Miles finally missed, he tracked down the long rebound before it caromed out of bounds, a sequence that resulted in Carter’s 3. That capped a 10-0 run in which the Mountaineers surged ahead 27-23.
Miles, whose recent tear lifted his season 3-point average above 30 percent, made 5-of-9 Friday. He’s 10-for-16 in two games at the Sprint Center.
“He’s streaky, and right now he’s on one of those streaks,” Mountaineers assistant Larry Harrison said. “He’s been working on his shot. Now when Dax shoots, it’s like when Lamont or Beetle shoots, when you automatically think it’s going in.
“Hopefully that’ll keep going throughout the tournament.”