Mountaineer hoops wins two

After a successful weekend in Houston, your Red Raider baseball team is back in action in Lubbock for 2 games against the Aggies of New Mexico State before a big weekend matchup with Cal State Fullerton.

No. 10 West Virginia (23-7, 12-5 Big 12) forced 19 turnovers, leading to 34 points, and ran away from the Red Raiders 90-68 in front of a crowd of 12,680 who came to witness the home finale. Mountaineers G Jevon Carter began the night in a 7-for-50 slump from 3-point range....

"I'd been here two years with mature guys in a mature system where you have to be responsible", Paige said. "I ain't gonna lie, I didn't expect to feel that. Going out for the last time with family and friends was a big moment".

Joining Paige were Jonathon Holton, who had seven points and 11 rebounds, and Richard Romeo III, who had appeared in just eight games prior to this contest, but played the final 3:19 and scored a basket.

West Virginia pushed its lead to 21 near the 16-minute mark following a 3-pointer from Paige at the left wing and a jumper soon after.

"We were just manhandled tonight", said Red Raiders head coach Tubby Smith. "They really took it to us in all phases".

A WVU win in Waco, Texas, or a loss from sixth-ranked Oklahoma against TCU on Saturday would do the trick in order for the Mountaineers to secure the No. 2 seed in next week's Big 12 tournament. I thought we were a lot more active. We have to work on our pass fake. "They were trapping every pick-and-roll and we we kept coughing it up".

West Virginia bounced back from a winless week with two victories.

The Mountaineers enjoyed plenty of opportunities at the rim early, converting six layups and four dunks to lead 41-26 at halftime.

The Red Raiders wouldn't see the lead again, coming as close as down one run in the bottom of the seventh with a runner on third(Tyler Neslony struck out looking).

Williams connected a pair of free throws followed by a Ross triple from the top of the key courtesy of Gotcher to make it 12-10 with 13:30 remaining. He took the spot of Williams, who missed a start for only the fourth time in three seasons. "I've been working on my shot with Coach (Bob) Huggins", said Miles.

The Mountaineers finish the regular season with a home game againt Texas Tech on Wednesday and a road trip to Baylor on Saturday. Still, the Raiders have dropped all eight regular-season meetings since WVU joined the Big 12.

Sophomore guard Justin Gray led Tech in scoring with 15 and the duo of Paige and sophomore guard Daxter Miles matched Gray by scoring 15 points as well.