The Sock 'Em, Bust 'Em Board Because that's our custom

No. 6 WVU 80, Texas Tech 76

That game had just a pinch of everything, and I think you could capably argue it was what West Virginia needed. For starters, it was a win after back-to-back losses, and it dashed doubts that arose after Wednesday’s loss and postgame news conference. But it also required a level of intensity and execution that was not present, respectively, against Texas and Oklahoma. Both qualities were there, sometimes in abundance and definitely in time. Texas Tech made sure the Mountaineers would need both to win the game, but the Mountaineers donned both and won the game.

“It was,” WVU guard Jaysean Paige said, “an obstacle course.”

The Mountaineers led by 10 points in the first half and trailed by three at halftime. They were guilty of a flagrant foul in the first half and involved in a double technical in the second. Fouls claimed the leading scorer after just 16 minutes and limited the starting point guard to 12 minutes. WVU was down by four points with 70 seconds to go on the road and won by four.

“We’re lucky,” WVU coach Bob Huggins said. “We’ve been unlucky sometimes. But we’ll take it.”

The Mountaineers survived a frantic final possession that began with them leading 78-76 and saw Toddrick Gotcher, Texas Tech’s best 3-point shooter, miss an open look with 11 seconds to go. WVU’s Jon Holton grabbed the rebound on the baseline, but lost it to Justin Gray, who quickly whipped the ball back out to the perimeter.

“I stopped playing, to be honest with you,” Phillip said. “I thought it went out of bounds.”

WVU’s Daxter Miles and Texas Tech’s Keenan Evans batted it around before Miles dived at the ball and punched it ahead to Phillip, who dunked with a second remaining.

That took one last obstacle out of play.

“They wanted to storm the court,” Holton said. “But we didn’t come here for a court-storming. We came here to compete, and I’m happy we got that win, because that game could have gone either way.”

WVU flew to Pittsburgh last night — not Clarksburg — and safely maneuvered down I-79. They’ll recuperate today and review the win and then practice tomorrow before Tuesday’s home game against Kansas State, which scored 89 and beat Oklahoma State Saturday.