Texas Tech vs. West Virginia:

[IE]

Texas Tech suffered an emotional loss on Saturday to Kansas, all but ending the team?s title hopes. Will they be able to get up for a tough game versus West Virginia?



After an incredible season, Texas Tech 22-7 (10-6) had a great opportunity to deny the Kansas Jayhawks a Big 12 regular season title. Bill Self?s team was rearing to go, taking the early lead and controlling the game.

But the Red Raiders were never out of it. And led by the freshmen duo of Zhaire Smith (20 points) and Jarrett Culver (18 points), they came back to make it a one possession game with a minute to go. Unfortunately, poor offensive execution was their undoing at the end of the game.

They were behind the eight ball from the very beginning, with Keenan Evans still dealing with a toe injury, and starter Justin Gray going down in the opening minute of the game. But Texas Tech did get back senior Zach Smith, whose been out for a while with an injury. His return will be crucial for the NCAA Tournament.

Right now though, the Red Raiders need to gain some momentum, losing three straight heading into this game against West Virginia 21-8 (10-6). The Mountaineers have won two in a row since losing to Kansas themselves. They beat Iowa State 85-70, with Jevon Carter leading all scorers with 24 points.

The senior leader for Bob Huggin?s team has quietly been fantastic for them, getting himself in the history books. Now, he?ll have to prepare for both the conference tournament and the NCAA tournament.

In the first meeting between these teams, Texas Tech prevailed by just one point. It was the biggest win in Lubbock in over a decade, with Evans leading the way with 20 points. The Red Raiders had to survive Carter?s 28 points.


There?s very little going Texas Tech?s way. They?re hurt both physically and emotional after Saturday and will have to play against a tough Mountaineers team.

 

[IE]

To many, West Virginia?s final home game of this season at 9 p.m. today against Texas Tech is a huge game.

The Red Raiders, who have struggled since Keenan Evans ? their best player ? suffered a foot injury, are now tied with the Mountaineers for second place in the Big 12.

Considering that Kansas has already clinched its 14th consecutive regular championship, or share thereof, it?s pretty much all that?s left for WVU before the Big 12 Tournament kicks in.

After all, second place is all that?s left ... but don?t you go telling that to Bob Huggins.

Huggins does not go through life with basketball blinders on, so you never know who he will be quoting next or what obscure reference may be brought up.

But you know something special is coming when he is quoting John Fitzgerald Kennedy when someone suggested that finishing second would be an acceptable goal.

?Do you know what John F. Kennedy said when they asked him to run for Vice President because he was young, aristocratic and Catholic? He said ?Why settle for second when first is available??? Huggins said. ?We lost a couple games, in hindsight, that we?d like to have back, that would have put us in a position where that could?ve been us taking the trophy instead of someone else.?

That is an indisputable truth, for the Mountaineers blew a pair of double-digit, second-half leads against Kansas in games not that they could have won, but games they should have won.

Then, somehow, they went to Iowa State, an undermanned, rebuilding program at the bottom of the Big 12 ? and yes there is a bottom to the Big 12 ? and were blown out, while also losing to also-ran Oklahoma State along the way.

That is four of their six losses, but that is history, and Huggins, of course, is famous for referring to another quote about a pickup truck driver named Phil who picked him up once as a youth. Upon noting that Phil was driving without a rearview mirror, Huggins asked him about it.

?We?re not going backward,? Phil replied.

And that he adopted as part of his philosophy.

More important to Huggins is why his team hasn?t quite reached the heights predicted for it. Or why moving forward there remains a chance to finish not second, but first, in the Big 12 tournament and maybe even the NCAAs.

The future, it seems, is in the hands of Esa Ahmad. Ahmad missed the first 16 games of this season as he sat out an NCAA suspension, then came back fast but then struggled to get involved as he needed to.

It would not have mattered much except for the fact that Huggins was playing without knowing what he would get from his forwards in any given game.

Lamont West struggled with his shooting, Teddy Allen was mercurial, a top scorer one day, unable to hit a shot the next. Wesley Harris, meanwhile, let his inexperience show through at times and couldn?t do many of the things Ahmad was counted on for.

Over a period of time Huggins has said that Ahmad is the best rebounding small forward in the nation. He has spoke of his ability to score, to handle the ball and Saturday night he added this one.

?He should be, and he?s probably making himself here of late, he should be the best offensive 3-man in the league. He?s big. He?s strong. He has great hands. We nee him to help out Sagaba Konate and everyone else on the glass,? Huggins said.

Certainly against Iowa State on Saturday he was all Huggins wanted him to be, connecting on 7-for-12 shooting and grabbing a career-high 11 rebounds as part of a double-double to go with 18 points. It came on the heels of a 15-point performance against Baylor.

But the two games before that saw Ahmad combine for just five points.

Studying Ahmad?s performance since returning, he seems to be able to rise against the teams that have no one that can match up with him but struggles against the better teams in the league.

Despite starting hot upon his return with 18 points against Texas Tech and 15 against TCU, Ahmad has slumped against the teams with winning records in the conference and Kentucky. In those games, Ahmad has averaged just 6.6 points a game on 39 percent shooting from the field and 69.2 percent from the free-throw line to go with 3.4 rebounds per game while owning eight assists versus 15 turnovers.

In six games against teams with losing league records, he is scoring more than double that at 14.4 points a game, shooting better than 52.5 from the field, 77.3 from the free-throw line, pulling down 6.2 rebounds a game while turning around his assist to turnover ration with 15 assists and eight turnovers.

From here on in, it?s up to Ahmad to keep his game at its highest level no matter who the opponent may be.

Or, to take our own quote from John F. Kennedy:

?Things do not just happen. Things are made to happen.?

It?s time for Ahmad to make things happen.