West Virginia (13-5) at Texas Tech (14-5)
When: Tuesday, February 9th, 2021
Where: United Supermarkets Arena,
Lubbock, TX
Time: 9:00 ET | TV: ESPN
Opening Odds: Texas Tech -5/140.5
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The West Virginia Mountaineers are in the middle of a brutal stretch in which they passed a big test on Saturday. Now its on to Lubbock, Texas to take on the seventh-ranked Texas Tech Red Raiders in a pivotal Big 12 showdown on Tuesday night. West Virginia never trailed in a 91-79 victory over the Kansas Jayhawks on Saturday afternoon to stay in the hunt for second place in the crowded conference standings. It was the first game of a six-game stretch when they will face all ranked opponents. Only 1.5 games separate second to sixth place in the Big 12 behind undefeated Baylor. The Mountaineers are currently alone in second, while Texas Tech is only a half-game behind. The Red Raiders are on a three-game winning streak after a hard-fought 73-62 win at Kansas State on Saturday as 15-point favorites. Texas Tech has only covered the spread three times in it’s last 10 games and Saturday’s effort wasn’t their best. They did, however, shoot 54.2 percent from the floor in the second half and turned the ball over only 10 times. The Red Raiders were also a sharp 10-of-20 from 3-point territory.
This will be the second meeting of the season between these teams and West Virginia made their final 10 field-goal attempts in an 88-87 comeback victory at home. The Mountaineers defended Texas Tech’s last-gasp effort as Mac McClung missed a leaning mid-range jumper as time expired. The home team has won and covered in each of the last three meetings including an 89-81 win by the Red Raiders last season in Lubbock.
West Virginia played solid defense on Saturday against Kansas, holding the Jayhawks to 7-of-20 from long range and forcing 18 turnovers. Taz Sherman recorded a career-high 25 points, while Mile McBride also had a career night with 29 points. The Mountaineers shot 50 percent from the field and hit 11-of-21 3-point attempts. The have made 44.1 percent of their 3-point shots over their last eight games including nailing 12-of-19 in the win over Texas Tech on Jan. 25. McBride had 24 points against Texas Tech, while Sean McNeil came off the bench to produce 13 points. The over is 4-0 in West Virginia’s last four games overall. The Mountaineers will host Oklahoma on Saturday.
Second-leading scorer Terrence Shannon Jr. was limited to two points in 11 minutes with an apparent injury in Saturday’s win over Kansas State, but he is not on the injury report this week. McClung had 23 points, bouncing back after he scored only six against Oklahoma. Kevin McCullar had 15 points, six rebounds and four assists, while Kyler Edwards had 13 points and eight rebounds. Bench players Tyreek Smith, Jamarius Burton, Clarence Nadolny and Chibuzo Agbo combined for 14 points in 44 minutes. The Red Raiders only had two turnovers against West Virginia, but their defense let them down in the loss. On the season, Texas Tech is 11th in the nation with just 61.7 points allowed per game and 12th with 17.0 opponents’ turnovers per contest. In the first meeting with the Mountaineers, McClung was the only double-digit scorer with 30. The Red Raiders will be at TCU next Monday night.
I’m going to go with the hot-shooting Mountaineers in this one. They were sizzling in the first meeting and Texas Tech is just 4-7 ATS at home this season. Give me the points in what should be a close game.
Pick: West Virginia +6
