Texas Tech coach Grant McCasland has not pressed the panic button ahead of the No. 13 Red Raiders’ Big 12 Conference matchup against West Virginia on Sunday in Morgantown, W.Va.
While every game in the conference offers a stern test, McCasland is confident the Red Raiders (16-6, 6-3 Big 12) will bounce back from two straight losses. The first was an 88-80 setback at UCF on Jan. 31, and the latest a 64-61 home defeat against No. 11 Kansas on Monday.
“We’ve got the right guys, we just need more experience and time together,” McCasland said. “I love this group and I believe in them and I know we can win real games that are meaningful in March. We’ve got to find ways to collectively get a little more experience, get a little tougher, get a little more fight and grit to the way we compete down the stretch. We are just scratching the surface of what we can be.”
Christian Anderson was a last-minute scratch for the loss to Kansas due to a reported illness. The sophomore guard ranks second on the Red Raiders in scoring at 19.6 points per game and leads the Big 12 in assists at 7.5 per contest. He shoots 43.6% from 3-point range and connects on 3.4 shots from beyond the arc per game.
Texas Tech thought there still was a possibility he could get ready to play against the Jayhawks by halftime.
“Before the game we didn’t have any idea it was an option (he wouldn’t play),” McCasland said. “In warmups we were told he was being held out for now. But I fully anticipated him playing. As he got closer to being out there, I was told we were trying to warm him up during the intros to see if we could get him ready to play.”
Even as the teams took the court after halftime, Texas Tech thought it could get Anderson back. Without him in the lineup, the Red Raiders surrendered a 10-point lead in the last eight minutes.
“We don’t have time to think about anything other than we need to beat West Virginia on Sunday,” McCasland said. “Staying in the Big 12 (race) is about being resilient, and we need to get better. Our guys are tough and care a lot about this team even though they are all hurt.”
West Virginia (15-8, 6-4 Big 12) is coming off a 59-54 road win over Cincinnati on Thursday, but it could use a victory over Texas Tech as a resume-builder. The Mountaineers are 2-5 in Quad 1 games and 1-3 in Quad 2 games. That makes Sunday tilt in Morgantown, where they are 13-1, even more important.
“We have a little momentum and need to go back home and take care of business there,” said West Virginia’s leading scorer, Honor Huff, who puts up 15.8 points per game.
“We don’t try to look ahead or hear the outside noise as to what can happen if you win this game or lose that game. We have to take care of every game that comes on our schedule.”
Even though the Mountaineers trailed the Bearcats by as many as 14 points in the second half, they rode a familiar formula to victory: Muddy things up on defense and wait for Huff to get hot from beyond the arc. Huff scored 14 straight Mountaineers points to put his team up 42-40, and the West Virginia defense held Cincinnati to 36.4% shooting from the field and 30.4% on 3-point attempts.
“For us it always starts on the defensive end of the floor,” West Virginia coach Ross Hodge said. “Can you defend and can you rebound? In the last couple games, we’ve gotten some good offensive looks and are struggling a bit on that end of the floor. But I tell these guys all the time, let’s beat someone 52-48 then if that’s what it takes. It takes what it takes.”
