MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — Miles McBride scored a season-high 22 points, Oscar Tshiebwe added 17 rebounds and No. 17 West Virginia beat 22nd-ranked Texas Tech 66-54 on Saturday night.
The Mountaineers (13-2, 2-1 Big 12) continued a remarkable turnaround by surpassing their wins total (12) from last season, when they finished last in the league.
Brandon Knapper added 10 points for West Virginia, which never trailed but allowed the Red Raiders to keep it close thanks to 19 turnovers and 12 missed free throws.
Davide Moretti led Texas Tech (10-5, 1-2) with 16 points. The Red Raiders have lost two straight, including a home loss to No. 4 Baylor on Tuesday night.
It marked the second time in two weeks that McBride gave West Virginia a huge lift. The freshman and Cincinnati native scored 21 points in a win over No. 11 Ohio State on Dec. 29.
McBride revived an offense that went without a field goal for nearly the first 5 minutes of the second half. He sank a pair of jumpers and then had a steal and layup over a two-minute span. He later hit another jumper to give the Mountaineers a 50-38 lead with 9 minutes remaining.
Texas Tech missed six straight shots, then found a gap in West Virginia’s normally fortified defense and tried to mount a comeback with little help from its two best scorers. Freshman Jahmi’us Ramsey and Moretti had a basket apiece over the final 15 minutes.
Chris Clarke, Kyler Edwards and Kevin McCullar all made layups, and Avery Benson’s 3-pointer pulled the Red Raiders within 52-46 with 7 minutes remaining. But they got no closer.
BIG PICTURE
Texas Tech: Ramsey, who has scored in double figures in nine of his 10 previous games this season, was held to eight points on 3 of 14 shooting. Aside from Moretti, who made 6 of 12 shots, the rest of the Red Raiders went 15 of 56 (27%) from the floor. Texas Tech was forced to take an abundance of 3-pointer but made just 6 of 28 (21%).
West Virginia: The Mountaineers, with Derek Culver and Tshiebwe anchoring the defense from the inside, have held opponents to 36% percent shooting from the floor, and Texas Tech was the latest victim. It was the start of six home games over an eight-game stretch for the Mountaineers.
UP NEXT
Texas Tech: Plays at Kansas State on Tuesday.
West Virginia: Hosts TCU on Tuesday.
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