Paulicap

Leading, 32-26, on the coattails of Jalen Bridges’ 16 points, the struggling Mountaineers tried mightily to coax some points from any name on their roster as the last half droned on, but in failing to do so dropped their seventh straight verdict and landed in last place in the 10-team Big 12 Conference. Ever-rising Texas Tech soared to 18-5 overall and continued to gain favor in the national polls.

The large and appreciative crowd of 12,673 knew full well there was not any lack of effort and tried its vocal best to get the Mountaineers home a winner. But the crowd could not shoot long-range jumpers or muscle inside for contested four-footers — shots West Virginia couldn’t count for points as the second half slowly went off the score clock.

Texas Tech presented a roster full of useful scorers, rebounders and hungry defenders. And those players quickly chewed off West Virginia’s lead and opened their own 46-39 lead. The ever-confident Red Raiders had already disregarded WVU’s earlier leads of 11-2, 15-8 and 30-21.

Bridges actually went scoreless in the second half and the perimeter-shooting McNeil — under body-to-body pressure on many of his three-point shot-attempts — misfired from all angles.

Bridges

West Virginia’s most useful player was Gabe Osabuchien whose 13 rebounds and eight points in 32 minutes off the bench went together with his always-present defense and hustle to give the Mountaineers their chances to win the conference game.

Taz Sherman, easily WVU’s leading scorer, missed the game with a concussion sustained in the previous outing, and his absence could not be adequately replaced.

With McNeal going 4-for-16 from the field, even the spirited play of forward Pauly Paulicap (nine rebounds, four points in an infrequent starting role) couldn’t be successfully paired with Osabuchien’s all-around gifts or Bridges’ first half scoring exploits.

In the midst of Texas Tech’s collection of nine contributors were Bryson Williams (15 points), Davion Warren (11 points), Kevin McCullar (10 points) and Terrence Shannon (nine points). The Red Raiders also held a 46-40 rebounding advantage.

The lone disappointment to Mountaineer fans was the loss. Hustle, intensity and high-octane energy were ever present. But even those attributes couldn’t keep the Mountaineers from dipping to a 13-9 record overall.

McNeil

Osabuohien