LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — West Virginia coach Bob Huggins watched his team score in ways he didn't expect during a 77-61 win over Texas Tech on Saturday.
From 3-point range.
Freshman Eron Harris scored 15 of his 18 points in the second half to lead the Mountaineers. He hit 3 of 5 3-pointers in the second half after missing all four tries from beyond the arc in the first half. Terry Henderson, who has been nursing a bad back the last month or so, hit 3 of 4 3-pointers and Gary Browne hit on all three of his 3s.
"Eron has shot it pretty consistent for us and Terry is starting to get well," Huggins said. "Terry we thought all along was our best shooter. Gary Browne hit a big one. Gary hadn't shot the ball very well. I think Gary came in shooting 16 percent from 3 or something like that."
Aaric Murray added 12 points for the Mountaineers (10-11, 3-5), who were 10 of 18 on 3-point attempts.
West Virginia never trailed but the Red Raiders kept it close briefly in the second half.
Ty Nurse scored 14 points for Texas Tech (9-10, 2-6) and Jaye Crockett added 13.
After outrebounding the Red Raiders 10-2 early in the game, West Virginia finished with 24 to Texas Tech's 22.
Turnovers, especially in the second half, hurt the Red Raiders as the Mountaineers got 27 points off Texas Tech's 22 turnovers.
"We just kind of let it slip, turned the ball over too much," Nurse said. "During those times it's crunch time and every possession matters."
West Virginia came into the game hitting only 29 percent on 3-pointers. The Mountaineers made half of their 12 attempts in the first half and were 4 for 6 after the break, with Harris getting three of those.
They averaged five 3s per game coming into Lubbock and doubled that.
The consistency of the Mountaineers' shooting surprised Red Raiders interim coach Chris Walker.
"They made shots," he said. "That's something we didn't anticipate was them making shots because that's something they've struggled with all year."
In the second half, the Mountaineers scored six straight points on a 3-pointer by Harris, a free throw from Juwan Staten and a steal and a dunk by Staten on the ensuing possession to go up 48-38 with about 13 minutes remaining.
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