Texas Tech 71, West Virginia 69: Dejan Kravic’s put-back at the buzzer lifted the ninth-seeded Red Raiders past the eighth-seeded Mountaineers in the opening game of the Big 12 tournament in Kansas City, Mo.
Kravic finished with 10 points and seven rebounds as Texas Tech (11-19) snapped a two-game losing streak and beat West Virginia for the first time in school history. Sixth man Jaye Crockett scored 18 points while Josh Gray had 10 points, seven rebounds and six assists for the Red Raiders, who will face top-seeded Kansas in the quarterfinals Thursday.
Reserve Terry Henderson scored 12 points to lead West Virginia (13-19). Aaric Murray had 11 points, eight rebounds and three blocks off the bench for the Mountaineers, who lost their final seven games in their first Big 12 season after 17 years in the Big East.
With 20.1 seconds left, the Mountaineers’ Deniz Kilicli hit the front end of a one-and-one to tie the game at 69 but missed the second shot. On the ensuing possession, Kravic followed up a missed 3-pointer by Jamal Williams to send the Red Raiders to their second win in 13 games.
Texas Tech jumped out to a 7-0 advantage and led by as many as 14 points at 30-16, but West Virginia cut it to 37-32 at halftime. The Mountaineers went on a 7-0 run and tied the game at 50 on Kilicli’s layup with 11:57 remaining.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Texas Tech shot 8-of-12 beyond the arc. … With 723 career wins, West Virginia coach Bob Huggins needs one more to tie Ray Meyer for 18th place on the all-time list. … The Red Raiders shot 46.2 percent to the Mountaineers’ 51 percent.
Texas Tech | West Virginia | |
Jaye Crockett 18 | Scoring | Terry Henderson 12 |
Josh Gray 6 | Assists | Eron Harris 2 |
Josh Gray 7 | Rebounds | Aaric Murray 8 |
Josh Gray 6 | Free Throws Made | Kevin Noreen 4 |
Jamal Williams Jr. 3 | Steals | Eron Harris 2 |
Dejan Kravic 2 | Blocks | Aaric Murray 3 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Texas Tech | 71 | 46.2 | 8-12 | 15-21 | 16 | 28 | 3 | 7 | 16 |
West Virginia | 69 | 51.0 | 5-14 | 14-18 | 12 | 26 | 8 | 8 | 15 |