Texas Tech Basketball: 2019-20 keys to Red Raiders win at West Virginia

1. Handle the bigs for West Virginia

The most talked-about storyline for this matchup is going to be how Texas Tech handles the size disparity. The Red Raiders have just one player in their rotation over 6’6, grad transfer forward TJ Holyfield (6’8 and 230 pounds). Meanwhile, West Virginia has five players taller than that, led by their starting frontcourt of 6’10, 250-pound Derek Culver and 6’9, 260-pound Oscar Tshiebwe.

The duo is the two leading scorers for the Mountaineers and each average just under a double-double on the season. This is one of the best defensive and offensive rebounding teams in the country and has an opportunity to exploit Texas Tech down low. And even if they get into foul trouble (which happens often), reserves Logan Routt and Gabe Osabuohien can come in and also handle problems.

It’s going to be a lot for both Holyfield and Chris Clarke (more on him in a bit) to handle. And quite frankly, there isn’t much the Red Raiders can do about it. But they can mitigate the advantage by dominating what happens on the perimeter. One idea would be to go zone and force the guards to make decisions, rather than allowing them to just throw it down inside on each possession.

Something else is to double Culver and Tshiebwe whenever they touch the ball and force it back outside. West Virginia is a very reluctant three-point shooting team and doesn’t make them at a high clip. If Jordan McCabe and Miles McBride go off in this game, then you might as well shake their hands and say good game, because the Mountaineers are nearly impossible to beat when that occurs.