West Virginia Bounces Texas Tech

Kevin Pittsnogle is 6 feet 11, weighs 250 pounds, is covered in tattoos and never hurries because he isn’t fast. But somehow Pittsnogle gets to the right spot.

With 6 minutes 11 seconds left and the score tied, 53-53, that spot was about 25 feet from the basket. That’s where Pittsnogle shot and made a three-point basket to give his Mountaineers the lead for good in a 65-60 victory over sixth-seeded Texas Tech on Thursday night in the Sweet 16 of the Albuquerque Regional.

Seventh-seeded West Virginia (24-10) will meet fourth-seeded Louisville on Saturday, and the winner will advance to the Final Four. This is the Mountaineers’ best NCAA run since Jerry West led them to the national title game in 1959.

Pittsnogle, who scored 15 points in the second half, saved the Mountaineers just when it seemed as if Ronald Ross, Texas Tech’s senior guard from Hobbs, N.M., was ready to steal a victory with his quick hands.

Within 20 seconds early in the second half, Ross snatched the ball twice from Patrick Beilein, son of Mountaineer Coach John Beilein. Both steals turned into baskets by Ross -- one dunk, one layup -- and they tied the score at 40-40. With just over nine minutes left, Ross stole the ball again and finished this time with a one-handed windmill dunk that brought a gasp from the crowd and tied the score at 51-51.

It then became Pittsnogle time.

The junior center scored in the lane with a leaner. Ross countered one last time with a layup but after both teams had scoreless possessions and after reserve forward Frank Young snared an offensive rebound off a Beilein miss, Pittsnogle squared up, barely left his feet and swished his dead-on three-point shot.

“It felt so good when it left my hands,” said Pittsnogle who is from Martinsburg, W.Va., and who struggled to say what the win meant to the fans back home.

“So much,” Pittsnogle said. “That’s all I can say. So much.”

The Red Raiders (22-11) committed three turnovers and missed the front end of a one-and-one over the next 2 1/2 minutes as West Virginia built a 62-55 lead. Sophomore guard Jarrius Jackson cut into the lead with a layup and free throw but even when the Mountaineers had four turnovers in a row (including two shot clock violations), Texas Tech could get no closer than 62-60.

And the Red Raiders had one last opportunity to tie the score when Pittsnogle blocked a Jackson layup and his teammates missed three attempts at a tip-in. Pittsnogle made two free throws with 17.6 seconds left to make it 64-60.

“That’s exactly how I thought the game would go,” Texas Tech Coach Bob Knight said. “I did not think it was going to be easy at all to score against them.”

Ross, who had 52 points last weekend as the Red Raiders defeated UCLA and Gonzaga, was held to 16 by West Virginia on eight-of-22 shooting.

“They were in my face all the time,” Ross said. “Give them credit.”

Two weeks ago the Mountaineers were seeded eighth in the Big East tournament and an NCAA bubble team.

Now they’ve knocked out Wake Forest, seeded No. 2 in the region, and Knight, who has coached three NCAA championship teams.

“We’re not an athletic team,” Pittsnogle said, “we’re not a great team. We’re just going to play as hard as we can.

“It’s the only way we can win.”