#10 Texas Tech vs #11 West Virginia

#10 Texas Tech vs #11 West Virginia | 2021 NCAA Basketball Expert Analysis

Written by on January 25, 2021

 

The Big 12 always has a marquee game on ESPN’s Big Monday and that’s the case again to tip off this week as No. 10 Texas Tech visits No. 11 West Virginia. The Mountaineers are short favorites on the NCAAB odds.

How to Bet Texas Tech at West Virginia NCAA Basketball Odds & TV Info

  • When: Monday, 9 PM ET
  • Where: WVU Coliseum
  • TV: ESPN
  • Stream: ESPN app
  • Radio:com
  • Opening NCAAB Lines: WVU -1.5 (total 136.5)

Last Meeting

The schools split last season. The one at West Virginia finished 66-54 in favor of the Mountaineers when they were ranked 17th and Texas Tech 22nd. Miles McBride had 22 points and Oscar Tshiebwe added 17 rebounds. McBride is still a key player for WVU, but Tshiebwe is gone. West Virginia never trailed but allowed the Red Raiders to keep it close thanks to 21 turnovers and 12 missed free throws. Avery Benson’s 3-pointer pulled the Red Raiders within 52-46 with 7 minutes remaining. But they got no closer.

Why Bet on Texas Tech? | 2021 NCAA Basketball Expert Analysis

The Red Raiders (11-4) last played on Jan. 16 and lost at home to No. 2 Baylor 68-60 – their next two games were both postponed. Tech is currently 1-3 against ranked opponents this year.

Texas Tech leads the nation with 382 trips to the free-throw line and has the second most makes with 273. The team is fifth nationally with a 6.5 turnover margin advantage, 10th with 68 total blocks, 11th by limiting teams to only 59.9 points per game and is 13th by forcing 17.9 turnovers per game from its opponents.

Mac McClung leads the Big 12 with 245 total points, 19.7 points per game in Big 12 play and with 66 made free throws (14th most nationally). Kyler Edwards is third in the conference with 27 3-pointers, while Marcus Santos-Silva is second with 19 total blocks.

Santos-Silva is ninth in the conference with 6.3 rebounds per game. In Big 12 games, Terrence Shannon is scoring 14.7 points and grabbing 5.7 rebounds which both rank 10th in the conference while Kevin McCullar is averaging 11.2 points and 8.0 rebounds in-conference.

Tech is 3-0 on the road to start Big 12 play for only the second time ever after the 1996-97 team began with road wins at Oklahoma State, Oklahoma and Kansas State before a loss at Iowa State in the inaugural year of the conference. This season, Tech has earned wins at Oklahoma, Iowa State and No. 5 Texas going into its matchup at West Virginia.

The longest road winning streak in Big 12 play for the Red Raiders is four games, coming as part of a nine-game winning streak to the end of the 2019 campaign and secure the Big 12 regular season title.  The Red Raiders went 14-0 in the final basketball season of the Southwest Conference (1995-96), including a program-best 7-0 mark on the road.

Texas Tech is 5-5 against West Virginia under Coach Chris Beard and 6-14 all-time. The Red Raiders earned their first win in Morgantown on Jan. 2, 2019 with a 62-59 victory to begin Big 12 play and begin their run to the program’s first Big 12 regular season championship. Tech is 1-7 all-time at the WVU Coliseum.

Why Bet on West Virginia? | 2021 NCAA Basketball Expert Analysis

WVU returned from a COVID break on Saturday and won 69-47 at Kansas State. The Wildcats had 28 turnovers, the most by a Big 12 team this season and the most in a game under coach Bruce Weber. West Virginia scored 26 points off those mistakes.

“That’s the difference in the game,” Weber said. “We have to play stronger, but we got our butts kicked.” The Wildcats got within eight points in the second half, but Taz Sherman hit a two 3-pointers in an 8-0 run for West Virginia.

The Mountaineers, idle for 14 days since losing 72-70 to Texas at the Coliseum on Jan. 9, shot 44% from the floor and were out-rebounded by 13, 36-24, but were never really threatened.

West Virginia (10-4, 3-3) jumped out to an early 21-4 lead and basically kept the margin at double figures for most of the game, with the exception of a brief moment early in the second half with the Wildcats reduced the Mountaineers’ lead to eight, 36-28.

Miles McBride scored 12 of his game-high 18 points in the first half as part of a modified starting lineup that included Sherman, Jordan McCabe, freshman Jalen Bridges and Derek Culver. Bridges stepped up with 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting, while Sherman contributed 10 – all in the second half.

The 22-point victory was West Virginia’s biggest on the road in conference play since joining the Big 12 during the 2012-13 season. The Mountaineers won by 17 at Oklahoma State in 2017. It was the biggest road win in conference play for the Mountaineers since they won at Seton Hall by 26 on Jan. 3, 2009 when they were still members of the Big East Conference.

Expert College Basketball Prediction

West Virginia 69, Texas Tech 68

 
 

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