The Tech student section doesn’t have many fans with 34.8 seconds left in a loss to West Virginia. Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023, at the United Supermarkets Arena. (Nathan Boles) 
Tech’s Kevin Obanor has a poster and-one dunk as they play West Virginia, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023, at the United Supermarkets Arena. (Andrew Watters) 
Tech fans hold up signs at the game against West Virginia. Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023, at the United Supermarkets Arena. (Andrew Watters) 
Tech’s De’Vion Harmon mean mugs after making a shot on West Virginia. Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023, at the United Supermarkets Arena. (Andrew Watters) 
Tech’s Daniel Batcho has the ball as they play West Virginia, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023, at the United Supermarkets Arena. (Andrew Watters) 
Tech’s Daniel Batcho makes a block on West Virginia’s Seth Wilson (14). Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023 at the United Supermarkets Arena. (Andrew Watters) 
Tech’s De’Vion Harmon lays it in against West Virginia on Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023, at the United Supermarkets Arena. (Andrew Watters) 
Tech’s Pop Isaacs brings the ball up the court as they play West Virginia on Wednesday, January 25, 2023, at the United Supermarkets Arena. (Andrew Watters)
The Texas Tech men’s basketball team is straight up not having a good time.
The losses have been at home and on the road. They’ve ranged from blowouts to close losses. Some have been games they played closer than expected, some have been games where they blew a lead, and some games had both.
Whether Kevin Obanor scores 26 points, seven points, or 20 like he did Wednesday, it’s never seemed to matter. Tech lost to West Virginia 76-61 Wednesday at the United Supermarkets Arena.
Texas Tech is now 0-8 in the Big 12 and is now 10-10 overall.
“It’s on me, the head coach,” Tech head coach Mark Adams said. “I’ve got to get these guys to play better. We’ve got a bunch of good kids, and they’re trying hard, and this is all on the head coach and [I] certainly assume that responsibility. Don’t want us to take it on these kids. They’re trying hard, they’re good kids, and they’re wanting to win.”
Pop Isaacs went down early in the second half and couldn’t get up on his own, grabbing his ankle as he was down.
Adams said they don’t know anything as he was being X-rayed and got an MRI. They should know soon, and Adams appreciates everyone’s thoughts and prayers.
Center Fardaws Aimaq already didn’t play as he is dealing with a foot bruise, putting a lot of the load on Daniel Batcho inside as well as forcing KJ Allen and Robert Jennings to have a bigger role. The freshman Jennings had seven points, but the Red Raiders missed Aimaq for sure.
West Virginia outrebounded Texas Tech 44-27, including 19-11 on the offensive glass.
Adams said it was disappointing and frustrating, especially as that was an emphasis this week. He said it’s also tough because they did well in the last game against Kansas State on the glass, outrebounding them 41-37 despite the loss.
He also said holding West Virginia to under 40% shooting was good and showed the defense has improved, but they have to box out and get rebounds.
The Red Raiders couldn’t capitalize on the 19 turnovers they forced, getting just 17 points off them. Tech also shot 3-for-20 from the three-point line against a WVU defense that allowed teams to shoot 35% in Big 12 play.
Kevin Obanor had 20 points in his first game with over 10 points since Jan. 7 against Oklahoma, and De’Vion Harmon was right behind him with 14 points, but Tech barely shot over 40% for the game.
Joe Toussaint and Seth Wilson led the way for West Virginia off the bench with 22 and 15 points, respectively, and Wilson shot 5-for-11 from the three-point line. 50 of West Virginia’s 76 points came off the bench.
Erik Stevenson added 16 points of his own as the only starter to score more than four points.
A 15-5 early run led by nine Kevin Obanor points, including a nasty and-one poster, was slowly wiped away as West Virginia found their three-point shot and the Tech offense went stagnant. Other than De’Vion Harmon, the Tech offense didn’t have anything left.
Jimmy Bell Jr. had five offensive rebounds in the first half as West Virginia outrebounded Tech 24-13 in the first half. The WVU starters didn’t score much, but their bench, led by Toussaint’s eight points, had 20 points to carry WVU to a 33-28 lead at the half.
Mark Adams was jawing at the referees, including after a Kerwin Walton technical foul, and he ended up getting a technical of his own in the second half.
Although it put the Red Raiders back down seven points, it might have been a rallying point as Tech got the game within a point, but West Virginia had an answer again, and again, and again.
Midway through the second half, for example, Obanor made a three-pointer to cut the West Virginia lead to two points.
On the next possession, West Virginia’s Wilson missed a triple, but then Stevenson got the rebound, shot a triple of his own, missed it, then Wilson got the rebound and gave it to Stevenson. Stevenson, as you might have guessed, drained a three to put West Virginia up five.
That does not include the bank shots that West Virginia made at crucial points in the game that felt demoralizing in the strangest ways.
Up Next
Tech’s 0-8 start to Big 12 play is the worst since 2011-12. The 2011-12 team was 0-11 at one point as they finished the conference 1-17.
This year’s Tech team can’t do anything about that Saturday, but they can at least try to break the losing streak.
They will go to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to play Saturday at 1 p.m. in the Big 12-SEC Challenge against LSU (12-8, 1-7 SEC).
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