Texas basketball squeezes out late win over West Virginia

A win that was too close for comfort down the stretch came for first-year head coach Chris Beard and No. 20 ranked Texas basketball on the road on the afternoon of Feb. 26 against head coach Bob Huggins and the struggling West Virginia Mountaineers. While West Virginia definitely gave Texas a run for their money this weekend, Beard’s squad was able to come out on top in the end.

Beard and the Longhorns came into this meeting with West Virginia on the road in Morgantown looking to extend their winning streak to two games. Texas looked pretty good earlier this week in a home win over the TCU Horned Frogs and head coach Jamie Dixon back on Feb. 23 that came by a comfortable nine-point margin.

Moreover, Texas really had an up and down game against the Mountaineers in this one. Texas came out of the gates hot shooting from the field and from beyond the arc. But West Virginia would keep close in the latter portion of the first half. A Texas lead that once was hovering around double-digits got closed to just six points by halftime.

Then, West Virginia really got the jump on Texas at the beginning of the second half. West Virginia was the better team for most of the second half. Texas was able to make a late run, though, to make sure they could stave off the West Virginia upset bid.

No. 20 Texas basketball tops West Virginia after a sluggish second half behind Timmy Allen and Jase Febres

A late rally for Texas would get them the win in the end by the final score of 82-21. This was one of the closest games of the season so far for Beard and the Longhorns.

The driving force for the Longhorns to beat West Virginia was the trio of senior guard Marcus Carr, senior forward Timmy Allen, and senior sharpshooting wing Jase Febres. These three Longhorns players were the true studs that got Texas over the hump in this game.

Allen was the Longhorns’ most productive player in this win over West Virginia. He put up a season-high 26 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the field, had no attempts from beyond the arc, and 12-of-16 from the free-throw line. Allen also came up with a game-high 10 rebounds, three assists, one steal, two blocks, and three turnovers.

There was a multitude of season highs that Allen set for himself in this game. his 26 points were a season-high as were high whopping 16 free-throw attempts. This was also the third double-double of the season so far for Allen.

Moreover, Carr started to pick up the pace of his play as this game moved along too. Off-ball, Carr was rather quiet. But he was efficient when called upon in a switch of roles for the former Pitt Panther and Minnesota Golden Gopher.

Carr gave the Longhorns 15 points on a perfect 6-of-6 shooting from the field, 1-of-1 from beyond the arc, and 2-of-3 from the free-throw line. He also came up with just one rebound, no assists, no steals, no blocks, and one turnover. It’s hard to ask for much more scoring efficiency out of Carr than he showed in this game.

There was also a big afternoon that Beard and the Longhorns got from Febres coming off the bench. Febres had one of the best games for him in recent memory. He gave the Longhorns 14 points off the bench on a solid 5-of-6 shooting from the field, 4-of-5 from beyond the arc, and he didn’t have any attempts from the free-throw line.

Texas needed this trio of Allen, Carr, and Febres to play as well as they did. The defense just wasn’t there for Texas in this one. And the fact that the Mountaineers had a whopping 35 attempts from the charity stripe wasn’t going to help anything.

Following this important win over West Virginia, the Longhorns move their record on the season to 21-8 (10-6 Big 12). Meanwhile, West Virginia is now one game under .500 as they are sporting a record of 14-15 (3-13 Big 12). Next up for Allen and the Longhorns is a meeting with the No. 10 ranked Baylor Bears in the home finale at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin on Feb. 28.