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

3. In addition to the boards, Texas Tech feasts from the charity stripe – and the Mountaineers need to prevent that

There are not as many teams who get to the charity stripe as Texas Tech does.  While the Red Raiders are average in shooting freebies at 71.5% (141st), they get to the free-throw line at an insane clip.  They attempt at least 25.5 freebies a game – the fourth-highest mark nationally – and rank eighth in free throws made at 18.2.

Those marks have not dropped in Tech’s jump to league play, either.  They rank first in the Big 12 in free throws (17.9), free throws attempted (23.1), and free throw percentage (77.2%).  The Raiders have attempted more free throws in five of their seven Big 12 games, including an insane 30-36 mark against Kansas State earlier this month.

On the other end, West Virginia is not necessarily bad at getting to the free-throw line – they rank in the top 100, after all – but they are nowhere near as effective as the Raiders on a national level.  The Mountaineers rank 71st in free throws (15.1) and 73rd in attempts (21.5) – but they do rank among the best in the Big 12, coming in third in makes (14.4) and second in attempts (22.0).

West Virginia is slightly more average from the line, trailing Tech’s mark at 70.8% (159th).  If the Mountaineers hope to win this game, they will need to prevent Texas Tech from making trips to the free-throw line – and surpass the Raiders’ mark.  This harkens back a bit to the point about Culver – and the need to go inside and draw contact because they will have opportunities to do so.

In those same five games that Culver has appeared in against the Red Raiders, the Mountaineers are an overwhelming and impressive 123-171 (71.9%) from the charity stripe.  They have reached the free-throw line more than 30 times in four of those games – and in two of those, recorded 41 attempts.  To make those marks even more impressive: the Mountaineers are averaging 34.2 attempts per game against Texas Tech and are making 24.6 freebies.

Contrarily, the Raiders have also gotten to the line at an impressive rate, albeit by a much smaller margin.  Texas Tech has registered an 80-101 (76.9%) mark from the line in those five games against West Virginia, and – by comparison – have only gone over 30 times in just one game.  The Mountaineers are capable of shutting the Raiders down inside and not allowing them to the charity stripe – and they will need to replicate that in order to win.

Again, this is a win that the Mountaineers desperately need.  In a Big 12 with at least seven potential NCAA Tournament teams – Baylor, Texas, Oklahoma, Texas Tech, West Virginia, Kansas, and Oklahoma State – the Mountaineers are the one team who do not yet have a signature victory.  Again, their win at Oklahoma State is great – but the Mountaineers have let games against Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas already slip.  This could be their best opportunity for one of those wins yet.