WHERE: United Supermarkets Arena | Lubbock, TX

WHEN: 11:00 AM, Saturday | Jan. 22nd

WATCH IT ON: ESPN 2

SERIES HISTORY: Texas Tech is 6-16 all-time against West Virginia. The Red Raiders have lost four of their five last matchups against the Mountaineers with their last win coming on January 29, 2020, in Lubbock.

West Virginia has a 13-4 record this season, and they’re 2-3 in Big 12 Conference play. The Mountaineers are unranked in the AP Top 25, but they received 14 votes this past week. They have one win over a team in the AP Top 25 (No. 15 UConn). WVU was picked to finish fifth in the 2021 Big 12 Preseason Coaches Poll.

Mountaineers head coach Bob Huggins is on his 15th season at the helm and has a 323-175 record at WVU. He’s led West Virginia to 10 NCAA Tournament appearances and reached the Final Four in 2010. Huggins has 913 career wins, and he's 16-7 all-time against Texas Tech.

West Virginia went 19-10 last year and were 11-6 in Big 12 Conference play. They beat 14th seed Morehead State, 84-67, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, but would fall in the Round of 32 to 11th seed Syracuse, 75-72. The 19 wins a season ago was the third lowest win total of the Bob Huggins era.

The Mountaineers have been better as a team on the defensive end this season, and they’re great at creating turnovers against the opposition. West Virginia has the 248th ranked scoring offense in the country, and they’re 251st in field goal percentage. They’re ranked 58th in scoring defense, and they’re 22nd in turnovers forced and 65th in steals per game.

WVU is ranked 48th out of 358 schools in the KenPom college basketball ratings for adjusted efficiency margin. They’re 102nd in offensive efficiency and 22nd in defensive efficiency. The Mountaineers have only one win over a team in the KenPom top 50 (UConn).

Sherman is the second leading scorer in the Big 12 and leads West Virginia with 18.8 points per game. He’s reached double digit scoring in 15 of 16 games this season, and he leads the team with 2.7 assists per game. Sherman is solid on defense and is tenth in the conference and second on the team with 1.6 steals per game. He was named honorable mention All-Big 12 a season ago and is on pace for first or second team honors this year.

McNeil was named honorable mention All-Big 12 a season ago, and he’s having an even better year in 2021-22. He second on the team in scoring with 14.4 points per game and shoots 45.7 percent from the field. McNeil is fifth in the conference and leads the Mountaineers in three-point field goal percentage. He’s shooting 41.8 percent from beyond the arc and is averaging 2.1 threes per game this season.

Bridges was named to the All-Big 12 Freshman Team last season. He’s third on the team in scoring with 8.7 points per game and second in rebounds, grabbing 5.5 boards per game this season. Bridges leads West Virginia in free throw percentage, shooting 81.8 percent from the charity stripe. He scored a career high 22 points and added 5 rebounds and 3 blocks in the Mountaineers last win against Oklahoma State.

It feels like every matchup in Big 12 play has been a showdown between defensive minded basketball teams, and Saturday’s bout against West Virginia will be more of the same. Bob Huggins has an impressive record against Texas Tech in his career, but he’s 0-0 against Mark Adams.

The Mountaineers have struggled shooting and putting up points this season. For a team that isn't playing well on the offensive end, the Red Raiders are a nightmare matchup. West Virginia hasn’t fared much better on the defensive end of the court as of late. In their three Big 12 losses, WVU is allowing 78.6 points per game and scoring only 62 points per game. In their two conference wins, the Mountaineers are averaging 70.5 points scored, and they’re allowing only 64 points on the defensive end. There’s a direct correlation with how the West Virginia defense performs, and their ability to win basketball games. It’ll take a strong defensive effort for the Mountaineers to pull off the upset in Lubbock.

The Red Raiders have shown that they’re capable of putting big wins to bed and disappointing losses behind them to focus on the next game at hand. They’ll need to be locked-in again on Saturday facing a West Virginia team that has historically given Texas Tech fits on the hardwood. The Red Raiders have been a sure thing on defense this season, but they still need to establish more consistency on the offensive end. Texas Tech is 4-2 despite averaging only 64.7 points in Big 12 Conference play. The Red Raiders are 13-0 this season when they shoot at least 39.7 percent from the field. If Texas Tech can settle into a groove offensively, the rest of the nation better look out. The Red Raiders will look to start building that offensive momentum against a good defensive Mountaineer team.