Derek Culver recorded his 11th double-double of the season and Taz Sherman came off the bench to score 23 points as No. 10 West Virginia picked up a 74-66 victory over TCU on Tuesday night in Fort Worth, Texas.
The Mountaineers (16-6, 9-4 Big 12), who were coming off a comeback win over Texas, have won seven of their past eight conference games with the lone defeat coming in double overtime against Oklahoma. West Virginia, which faces No. 2 Baylor on the road on Thursday, also won its sixth consecutive conference game on the road.
TCU (11-10, 4-8) suffered its third consecutive loss and is scheduled to play West Virginia again on March 4 in Morgantown, WVa.
Culver, an athletic 6-foot-10 junior forward, finished with 18 points and 14 rebounds and helped West Virginia establish a presence inside in the opening minutes of the game. Culver had 15 points and eight rebounds in the first half and shot 6-for-12 from the field overall.
Jalen Bridges complemented Culver's performance with nine points and five rebounds as West Virginia finished with a 38-30 advantage on the boards. Miles McBride scored eight of his 11 points in the second half and hit a clutch jumper to push West Virginia's lead to 12 points with 1:04 left and help hold off TCU.
RJ Nembhard led the Horned Frogs with 17 points and nine assists and helped keep the game close for most of the first half.
But West Virginia scored the first seven points of the second half to continue an 11-0 run that began with 1:28 left in the first.
Kevin Samuel battled Culver inside and totaled 11 points and 10 rebounds for TCU. Taryn Todd chipped in eight points off the bench before he fouled out. Mike Miles, the Horned Frogs' second-leading scorer, finished with seven points on 3-for-9 shooting.
The performances from Culver and Sherman offset Sean McNeil (seven points) and Emmitt Matthews Jr. (four points), both being held to single-digit scoring.
--Field Level Media
West Virginia | Texas Christian | |
Taz Sherman 23 | Scoring | RJ Nembhard 17 |
Miles McBride 5 | Assists | RJ Nembhard 9 |
Derek Culver 14 | Rebounds | Kevin Samuel 10 |
Taz Sherman 8 | Free Throws Made | RJ Nembhard 5 |
Miles McBride 3 | Steals | Mike Miles 3 |
Derek Culver 1 | Blocks | Kevin Samuel 1 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
West Virginia | 74 | 43.9 | 5-21 | 19-33 | 19 | 33 | 1 | 9 | 9 |
Texas Christian | 66 | 49.0 | 8-23 | 10-17 | 19 | 26 | 2 | 6 | 13 |