Red Raider Recap: Tech 77, No. 7 West Virginia 76

Tuesday, January 3

United Supermarkets Arena

8:15 PM

Texas Tech Athletics

12-2 (1-1B12)

No. 7 West Virginia

12-2 (1-1B12)

OT 1

#7 West Virginia

Texas Tech

Red Raider Recap: Tech 77, No. 7 West Virginia 76

January 04, 2017 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Game14WestVirginia-TexasTechStats

By: The Red Raiders have won four of their last six games against ranked opponents highlighted by three straights home victories.

LUBBOCK, Texas – For Anthony Livingston, it was a shot he made over 100 times with graduate assistant Darryl Dora leading into Tuesday's game. He was clapping his hands emphatically waiting for the ball to come to him on the left baseline during the closing seconds in overtime.

Trailing by two points, Niem Stevenson found Livingston who calmly swished the go-ahead three-pointer with 4.6 seconds remaining to deliver the final punch of a drama-filled 77-76 overtime triumph for the Texas Tech men's basketball team over No. 7 West Virginia Tuesday at the United Supermarkets Arena.

The Red Raiders (12-2, 1-1 Big 12) protected their home floor for the 16th consecutive time dating back to last season and earned the program's first Big 12 victory under Chris Beard. Texas Tech has emerged with wins in four of its last six games against ranked opponents which includes three straight at the United Supermarkets Arena.

The Red Raiders snapped a six-game losing streak to West Virginia (12-2, 1-1 Big 12). Texas Tech committed a season-low 13 turnovers for a WVU opponent this season. The Mountaineers entered the game forcing their opponents a NCAA-leading 26.5 turnovers per contest.

"I think it's worth the price of admission," Texas Tech head coach Chris Beard said. "If I bought a ticket and came and watched these guys play against one of the best teams in the country – I'm just proud of our players. We've got a process that we believe in. We don't think we're better than anybody else, but we work hard every day. Your first year, you need to have some validation to your process. I thought today was a validation win for us internally to show we can compete against some of the best teams in the country."

Zach Smith turned in a solid all-around effort with 15 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two blocks over his 42 minutes of action. He was 5-of-7 from the floor and reached double figures for the eighth time in his last 10 appearances.

Livingston teamed with Keenan Evans for 12 points apiece. For the second straight game, Stevenson provided a spark off the bench. He secured 13 points coupled with a season-high eight rebounds and four assists versus zero turnovers during a season's best 27 minutes of action. The 13 points was the second-highest scoring output for Stevenson.

Justin Gray added nine points and connected on all four of his field goal attempts before he fouled out, while Devon Thomas tacked on five points, three rebounds and three assists. All five of Thomas' points came during the second half and overtime.

Shadell Millinghaus came away with six points and played strong defense against one of West Virginia's top players Jevon Carter who was limited to 11 points on 12 shot attempts. Aaron Ross notched five points.

"I thought Niem Stevenson grew up in front of all of us tonight to be the kind of player we recruited him to be," Beard said. "I thought Shoddy [Shadell Millinghaus] did a good job of calming us down and really impacting the game with some of his heart and fight. Everybody that played in this game made plays at different times. [Aaron] Ross got in to some foul trouble, but he made a couple free throws late … Depth is our identity. It's no secret. So, tonight we won this game with everybody playing a role. Some of the guys that may not have played in the game and some of our redshirts helped us win this game in practice this week being the West Virginia press as part of the scout team. This game was won in practice with our preparation."

Texas Tech sank 25-of-49 from the field, 7-of-13 on treys and 20-of-30 at the free throw line. The Red Raiders have posted a 50 percent or better shooting clip in 10 of 14 games this season.

West Virginia countered with a 28-for-59 shooting effort and made seven of its 21 attempts from beyond the three-point arch. The Mountaineers were 13-for-24 at the charity stripe and split their 12 free throw attempts during the overtime period.

Esa Ahmad was one of four WVU players to reach double figures with 13 points and six rebounds. He was joined by Carter with a balanced 11 points, six assists and four steals. Nathan Adrian picked up 10 points and six rebounds followed by Lamont West with 10 points.

All square at 59-59 with 5:17 remaining, Texas Tech rattled off a six-point flurry over the next 1:30 off the clock. Evans found a cutting Gray on the baseline who used the pump fake and hit a layup to give the Red Raiders a two-point lead.

Then, Smith got a friendly bounce on a pair of free throws. Thomas drove the lane, stopped on a dime and banked home an 8-foot floater on the left elbow late shot clock to extend the Texas Tech advantage to 65-59 with 2:58 to go.

West Virginia battled back with eight of the last 10 points to force overtime. The Mountaineers deadlocked the score at 67-67 on an Adrian triple from the left baseline off a second-chance opportunity with 11 seconds to go.

WVU carried that momentum into the early moments of the extra session and converted on a trio of free throws to go up 70-67 with 3:50 left.

After two Ross free throws, Smith drove in and buried a 12-footer just inside the lane to make it 71-70 at the 2:39 mark. West Virginia regained a 72-71 edge after two foul shots.

On Texas Tech's next possession, Ross connected with Stevenson for a triple on the left baseline to vault the Red Raiders ahead 74-72 with 2:01 remaining.
The Mountaineers responded in a game that featured 14 ties and 21 lead changes with an Adrian free throw and Tarik Phillip trey with 33 seconds on the clock to bring the score to 76-74.

That set the stage for Livingston who delivered his second game-winning effort in the final seconds on the season. This time, Livingston didn't need three free throws like he did during an 85-84 win over Rice. He drained a three-ball on the left baseline with 4.6 seconds.

Without any timeouts, Carter raced the ball up the floor for West Virginia. His 35-foot attempt bounced off the backboard without hitting the rim, and Texas Tech had its 77-76 overtime win.

"It's no statement. It's one game," Thomas said. "They're a good team. We had to bite down and really fight. This is what the league is. Every team is good. We're going to have this night in and night out. We take it as it comes."

Texas Tech will face 12-time defending Big 12 regular season champions and No. 3 Kansas Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse. Tipoff is slated for 6:15 p.m. CT, and the game will be televised by ESPN2 along with the Watch ESPN app.

Visit www.TexasTech.com for the latest news and information on the men's basketball program. Fans also can follow the program on its social media outlets at www.Facebook.com/TexasTechMBB along with @TexasTechMBB on Twitter and Instagram.