Texas Tech guard Jarrett Culver scored all 18 of his points in the second half, and the No. 11 Red Raiders forced 22 turnovers to overcome host West Virginia 62-59 in the Big 12 opener for both teams Wednesday night in Morgantown, W.Va.
Culver, a sophomore averaging 19.6 points, 5.6 rebounds and 4.3 assists, did not score in the first half after picking up his third foul with 5:06 to go. He played only 22 minutes.
Davide Moretti's 3-pointer gave Texas Tech a 55-54 lead with 2:09 to go. West Virginia followed with turnovers on its next two possessions, as Culver hit a jumper and two free throws to push the lead to 59-54.
Culver added two free throws with 13 seconds left to help seal the win.
Texas Tech (12-1, 1-0) scored the first 11 points of the second half, ignited by a four-point play from Moretti, to take a 31-22 lead. West Virginia went more than 10 minutes without a basket, spanning halftime, until big man Derek Culver hit a driving layup with 14:47 to go to make it 33-26.
West Virginia took a 44-43 lead on Lamont West's 3-pointer with 7:55 left, and the lead changed hands five times after that until Moretti's late 3-pointer.
West scored a game-high 22 points off the bench with seven rebounds. Derek Culver (no relation to Jarrett Culver) added 12 points and eight rebounds for the Mountaineers (8-5, 0-1).
It was a disjointed game in which there were 25 fouls on each team, 35 total turnovers and poor shooting throughout. West Virginia was 18 of 32 from the free-throw line (56.3 percent) and 5 of 19 from 3-point range. Texas Tech hit only 3 of 18 from beyond the arc.
The Red Raiders trailed by as many as nine points in the first half but finished on an 8-1 run to trail 22-20 at the break.
West Virginia junior forward Sagaba Konate, who averages 13.6 points and a team-high 8.0 rebounds, missed his fourth game because of a lingering knee injury. Konate is the school's career leader in blocked shots. There is no firm timetable for his return.
--Field Level Media
Texas Tech | West Virginia | |
Jarrett Culver 18 | Scoring | Lamont West 22 |
Jarrett Culver 2 | Assists | Esa Ahmad 2 |
Jarrett Culver 6 | Rebounds | Derek Culver 8 |
Jarrett Culver 6 | Free Throws Made | Derek Culver 6 |
Brandone Francis 4 | Steals | Jermaine Haley 2 |
Norense Odiase 2 | Blocks | Esa Ahmad 1 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Texas Tech | 62 | 38.2 | 3-18 | 17-24 | 5 | 29 | 4 | 12 | 13 |
West Virginia | 59 | 41.9 | 5-19 | 18-32 | 6 | 38 | 2 | 5 | 22 |