The Texas Tech Red Raiders and the West Virginia Mountaineers meet Saturday in college basketball action from WVU Coliseum. Texas Tech is currently 14-12 on the year. The Red Raiders upset Texas in their last matchup on Monday. As for West Virginia, they’re they’re 15-11 so far and fresh off a loss to Baylor. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Texas Tech Red Raiders
Texas Tech had an up-and-down start to the season, going 10-8 in their first 18 outings. The Red Raiders are 4-4 since then, taking wins over LSU, Iowa State, Kansas State and Texas with losses otherwise to Kansas State, West Virginia, Baylor and Oklahoma State.
In the Texas matchup on Monday, the Red Raiders carved out a 44-35 edge by halftime. Texas Tech was outscored 32-30 from there but held on for the upset win 74-67. Leading scorer De’Vion Harmon posted 25 points with three rebounds and two assists.
West Virginia Mountaineers
Over on the West Virginia side, they managed to go 11-7 over their first 18 games of the season. The Mountaineers have since gone 4-4 with wins over Texas Tech, Auburn, Oklahoma and Iowa State alongside losses to Texas, TCU, Texas again and Baylor.
Matched up against Baylor on Monday, the Mountaineers were down 36-29 in the locker room. The Mountaineers were outscored 43-38 from there and lost 79-67. Emmitt Matthews put up 17 points with five rebounds in the defeat.
ANDREW’S FREE PICK
I’m going to lean toward West Virginia in this one. That said, I could easily go either way; it’s tough telling what’s going to happen here. The Mountaineers have lost consecutive games to great teams in Texas and Baylor, and they didn’t get especially close in either one. That said, the Mountaineers are 3-0 in their last three at WVU Coliseum, and they were able to take out Texas Tech 76-61 the last time these teams met up on January 25 at United Supermarkets Arena. The Raiders are riding high right now however, taking out three ranked teams in their last five games (all home victories). This one’s going to be another fun battle; it’ll be a great matchup to watch.