West Virginia upended No. 7 Texas Tech in the Big 12 tournament quarterfinals on Thursday night, knocking out the No. 2 seed in the bracket and handing the Red Raiders their first loss since Feb. 2.
UPSET IN THE BIG 12!
— NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) March 15, 2019
West Virginia STUNS the co-Big 12 champs, downing No. 7 Texas Tech in the quarterfinals! pic.twitter.com/m0NXEDsXUY
Freshman Emmitt Matthews Jr. exploded out of nowhere for a career-high 28 points for the Mountaineers at just the right time. His previous high was 13, a number achieved just two games ago. He was 10-for-14 from the field, 2-for-4 on 3-pointers and 6 for 6 on free throws.
The Red Raiders no longer have a chance to improve their NCAA tournament resume. Texas Tech was a No. 3 seed in Andy Katz's latest bracket prediction.
BRACKETOLOGY: Andy Katz predicts the field days before Selection Sunday
West Virginia dominated the offensive glass for 19 rebounds, which helped swing the game despite the fact that Texas Tech shot 45.6 percent from the field while WVU shot only 38.8 percent. Matthews had six of those rebounds himself, while Derek Culver accumulated 13 of West Virginia's 45 total boards on the day. Texas Tech only had 30.
West Virginia's win follows its 72-71 win against Oklahoma in the First Round on Wednesday. The Mountaineers are now the first No. 10 seed to reach the Big 12 tournament semifinals since Texas got there in 1998.
