MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Deuce McBride capped a 19-point second half with the eventual game-winning layup with five seconds left as No. 11 West Virginia rallied to defeat No. 10 Texas Tech, 88-87 Monday night at the Coliseum.
Trailing 87-86 with 12 seconds left, WVU and Tech traded timeouts with a inbounds play right in front of the WVU bench. McBride went to the rim with a straight line drive and connected on an off-balance leaner to give the Mountaineers their first lead since the 16:00 mark of the second half.
Without a timeout to use, Tech got the ball in play quickly. Mac McClung’s baseline 15-footer rimmed out as the buzzer sounded, giving the Mountaineers their best victory of the season.
“I knew it was good. I didn’t have any hesitation,” McBride said of his game-winning shot. “As soon as it left my hand, I knew it was good.”
“We wanted to give Deuce a head of steam and clear a side for him,” said WVU head coach Bob Huggins. “We had three options. The first one was the one we really wanted and Deuce did a great job.”
West Virginia jumped out to an early 18-9 lead on the strength of a pair of 3-pointers from Fairmont Senior graduate Jalen Bridges. WVU extended their lead to ten points at the 5:16 mark when Jordan McCabe hit an off-balance leaner in the lane.
However, the Mountaineers would go cold over the final four minutes. They made just one of their last five shots from the floor and went the final 3:45 without a field goal. Tech caught fire, closing the half on a 13-3 run to draw even at halftime, 39-39.
West Virginia shot 50 percent (14-for-28) from the floor in the first half and they connected on 6-of-10 attempts from 3-point range.
The Red Raiders dominated the run of play early in the second half. Trailing 48-47, a 17-4 Tech run gave them a 64-52 lead.
“The fact that we could stay together no matter what we went down, we pulled together,” said WVU guard Sean McNeil.
The Mountaineers crept back into the game, using an 8-0 run to pull within four points at 75-71. Tech pushed the lead back up to eight points before West Virginia made their final push. McNeil’s triple with 2:30 left trimmed a six-point deficit in half at 82-79. With 90 seconds left, McBride tied the game at 84 with three of his 19 second half points.
McClung immediately responded with a triple of his own, and Tech retook the lead, 87-84 with a minute to go. Taz Sherman’s basket on West Virginia’s next possession cut the deficit to a point at 87-86 and set the stage for McBride’s heroics. Over the last 9:30, West Virginia made their last ten shots from the floor.
“You go 10-for-10 down the stretch, you are going to win a bunch of games,” Huggins said. “We finally made shots. We had opportunities. We turned it over. We missed foul shots. We were our own worst enemy for the first 32 minutes.”
McBride led the Mountaineers with 24 points, going 7-for-12 from the floor. “Not only does he score 24 points, but he gets 7 rebounds. He just makes plays for us,” McNeil said. “To have him on the floor is vital for us. He does so much more than just scoring.”
McNeil and Bridges added 13 points each. Taz Sherman, Derek Culver and Jordan McCabe all added 10 points each.
McClung led Texas Tech (11-5, 4-4 Big 12) with a game-best 30-point effort.
West Virginia won despite forcing just two turnovers from the Red Raiders. Tech outscored WVU in points off turnovers 25-0.
“Us forcing them into only two turnovers is not like us,” McBride said. “That’s not what our identity is. They got to a few more loose balls than I think we did. We probably could have stepped into the lane and taken a few more charges. But there’s other ways to win games. That’s how it is in the Big 12. You have to figure out those ways.”
West Virginia (11-4, 4-3 Big 12) will step out of conference play to host Florida (8-4) Saturday afternoon in the Big 12/SEC Challenge.
(Bob Huggins postgame Zoom conference)