West Virginia Basketball: 3 keys to toppling No. 12 Texas Tech Red Raiders

1. The key cog inside, getting Derek Culver involved would benefit the Mountaineers from the get-go

Arguably, no one has benefitted more from Tshiebwe’s departure than Derek Culver, who has served as West Virginia’s anchor inside at the post and has recorded monster numbers in a few of Mountaineers’ latest outings.

West Virginia’s shift to “Press Virginia” – which involved changing the starting lineup to a four-guard lineup – has allowed Culver to have more freedom inside, compared to when he had to share the floor with Tshiebwe.  The first game without Tshiebwe – a 75-71 loss at Oklahoma – yielded Culver’s lowest-scoring game of his three-year career.

But once the Mountaineers swapped to their press in the following game against Oklahoma State, Culver came alive, posting 22 points and 19 rebounds against the Cowboys.  He followed that up with a 14 point, 16 rebound double-double in the loss to Texas.  His performance against Kansas State was lackluster – eight points and four boards while fouling out – but given the Mountaineers won by 22, they did not necessarily need him in that game.

One of West Virginia’s biggest weaknesses this season has been their atrocious 2P%, which ranks 301st nationally at 44.8%.  What is even worse for them entering this game is just how stellar the Red Raiders are in defending inside the arc, where they hold teams to a 23rd-best 43.8%.

But inside play – and overcoming Texas Tech’s stout defense – has been the catalyst for teams to usurp – or hang around with – the Red Raiders.  For example, the last time that a team outscored Texas Tech in points in the paint was against Oklahoma State on January 2nd – and that was a loss, in a game where the Cowboys dominated in that category (32-22, with an 8-2 differential in the deciding overtime period).

Culver will have opportunities – without a doubt, a few of his games against the Red Raiders have been some of the best and most bizarre of his career.  His second-ever game against Tech saw the big man attempt a career-high 24 free-throws (15-24), while the latest meeting saw Culver go 14-16 from the charity stripe.  He will have those opportunities against Tech’s Kevin McCullar, Marcus Santos-Silva, and Micah Peavy – but he will have to be deliberate to not get in foul trouble.

In all, Culver is averaging 13.2 points and 8.4 rebounds in five meetings with the Red Raiders.  He is just 12-31 from the floor in those games – but is an overwhelming 42-63 from the line, and is recording at least 12.6 attempts per game.  He will get chances to score inside and, absolutely, from the line – but he will have to knock down those shots if the Mountaineers hope to have a chance.  He is shooting just 55.7% from the line for the season – and is an abysmal 38.7% in conference play.