McBride, No. 11 West Virginia rally past No. 10 Texas Tech

Jan 26, 2021, 05:38 am

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- — Miles McBride and No. 11 West Virginia got hot near the end, spoiling a family reunion for Mac McClung.

McBride made a go-ahead jumper with 6 seconds left and finished with a season-high 24 points, helping West Virginia rally for a wild 88-87 victory over No. 10 Texas Tech on Monday night.

“I knew it was good,” McBride said of his winning shot. “I didn’t have any hesitation. I knew as soon as it left my hand that it was good.”

McBride scored 17 points over the final nine minutes to steal the spotlight from McClung, who scored a season-high 30 points. McClung, a native of Gate City, Virginia, about 300 miles southeast of Morgantown, had about 10 family members watching in the arena.

“He’s a great player,” McBride said about facing McClung. “But I’m not going to back down from any challenge.”

West Virginia (11-4, 4-3), the worst shooting team in the Big 12, made its last 10 field-goal attempts and shot 58% (30 for 52) for the game.

“We finally made shots," coach Bob Huggins said. "We had opportunities. We missed free throws. We turned it over. We were our own worst enemy for the first 32 minutes. Then the ball started going in for us. That's the crazy thing. Once it starts going in, it has a tendency to keep going."

Jalen Bridges and reserve Sean McNeil each scored 13 points for West Virginia, which trailed by 12 with about seven minutes left. Derek Culver had 10 points and nine rebounds.

Texas Tech (11-5, 4-4) also wasted a solid performance by Terrence Shannon Jr., who had 15 points and eight boards.

McBride’s 3-pointer with 1:36 left tied it at 84, but McClung responded with his own 3 with 1:10 remaining.

Taz Sherman made a layup with 50 seconds to go and the Mountaineers got the ball back for one last chance. McBride drove the lane and made an off-balance shot over two defenders.

“We have to get a stop to win,” Texas Tech coach Chris Beard said. “It’s something we work on every single practice. We just couldn’t get it done when we need it most.”

McClung missed a jumper at the buzzer, ending the Red Raiders' first road loss in Big 12 play.

“I thought we executed on the last play of the game," Beard said. "If that shot goes in, we all feel a little bit different.”

BIG PICTURE

Texas Tech: The Red Raiders hadn't played since an eight-point home loss to Baylor on Jan. 16. Games last week against TCU and Iowa State were postponed due to COVID-19 issues with those opponents.

West Virginia: West Virginia played its first home game in more than two weeks after its two previous home games were postponed due to COVID-19 issues with the Mountaineers. After forcing 28 turnovers last game against Kansas State, West Virginia only forced two against the Red Raiders.

“Us forcing only two turnovers is not what our identity is,” McBride said. “There's other ways to win games and that's how it is in the Big 12. You just have to figure out those ways.”

UP NEXT

Texas Tech plays at LSU in the Big 12-SEC Challenge on Saturday. The two conferences split 10 games a year ago. The SEC has won just one of the previous seven challenges with two ties.

West Virginia hosts Florida in the Big-12 SEC Challenge on Saturday.

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