Texas Tech Red Raiders vs West Virginia Mountaineers Picks and Predictions February 22nd 2025

No. 9 Texas Tech Stumbles into Matchup with West Virginia

Texas Tech will look to make an energized return to the court when it faces West Virginia on Saturday afternoon in Big 12 play at Lubbock, Texas.

Texas Tech’s Recent Struggles

The No. 9 Texas Tech Red Raiders were plagued by fatigue in the final minutes of a 69-66 road loss to TCU on Tuesday. Their scoring output was 16 points below their season average.

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Red Raiders coach Grant McCasland took responsibility for the late-game struggles after his team failed to hold onto a four-point lead with less than seven minutes remaining.

“I got to do a better job — played too many guys too many minutes,” McCasland said. “Felt like those guys had the understanding of what it took to win this game, but we ran out of gas and weren’t able to finish it.”

Texas Tech (20-6, 11-4 Big 12) has split its past four games after previously winning seven in a row. Making the game against the West Virginia Mountaineers even more pivotal is that the Red Raiders face No. 5 Houston, the Big 12 leader, on Monday.

Texas Tech Red Raiders vs West Virginia Mountaineers

Key Players to Watch

Big man JT Toppin will look to bounce back after scoring just 14 points against TCU. Prior to that, he recorded 32 points against Oklahoma State and a career-high 41 in a double-overtime win over Arizona State. Toppin has put together four consecutive double-doubles and leads the team in scoring (17.1 ppg) and rebounding (9.2 rpg).

Darrion Williams is averaging 15.2 points and 4.0 assists, while Chance McMillian is contributing 15.1 points per game and leads the team with 64 three-pointers.

West Virginia’s Battle to Stay Competitive

West Virginia (16-10, 7-8 Big 12) is coming off a much-needed 62-59 home win over Cincinnati on Wednesday. The Mountaineers had lost six of their previous eight games.

Despite leading by nine with 34 seconds left, West Virginia barely survived a late push from Cincinnati, including two last-second three-point attempts that could have forced overtime.

“Sometimes when you haven’t had a lot of success recently, some of that doubt can creep in, and some of that doubt crept in on that last shot when it was in the air,” Mountaineers coach Darian DeVries said.

Amani Hansberry led the way with 17 points and a career-high 13 rebounds, while Javon Small added 16 points despite playing through an ankle injury.

“My ankle hurt a little bit, but it happens in basketball and injuries happen,” Small said. “Sometimes you have to just play through them. I just happened to play through mine.”

Small leads the Mountaineers in scoring (18.5 ppg), assists (5.5 apg), three-pointers (62), and steals (45).

Head-to-Head Matchup

This is the lone regular-season meeting between the teams. Last season, Texas Tech won their only matchup, securing an 81-70 road victory.