MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — Jaylon Tyson had a career-high 27 points and Fardaws Aimaq scored Texas Tech’s last eight points in leading the Red Raiders to a 78-72 win over West Virginia on Saturday.
Tyson and Aimaq combined for 25 second-half points for Tech (15-12, 4-10), which started the day tied with Oklahoma for last in the Big 12, a game back of the Mountaineers (15-12, 4-10). The Raiders have won three straight including wins over No. 6 Texas and No. 12 Kansas State.
The Mountaineers lost their third straight.
Tyson shot 11 of 15, and while Aimaq was only 2 of 11 he made all 10 of his free throws in finishing with 14 points, and grabbed 12 rebounds. Pop Isaacs returned after missing six games with an ankle injury suffered in the teams’ Jan. 25 meeting won by the Mountaineers to score 15 points. De’Vion Harmon added 13 points.
Erik Stevenson scored 27 points and made 6 of 14 3-point attempts for West Virginia. Kedrian Johnson added 20 points. Joe Toussaint, who scored 22 points in the Mountaineers’ 76-61 win in the previous meeting, scored five.
A 14-3 run fueled by 12 straight points from Stevenson gave the Mountaineers the largest lead of the game at eight with nine minutes left. Tech responded with 11 straight points and took the lead for good on two Aimaq foul shots with five minutes remaining. West Virginia got its last field goal on a 3 from Johnson to get within one but the Mountaineers missed their last six shots over the final three minutes.
West Virginia is host to Oklahoma State on Monday. Texas Tech is at Oklahoma on Tuesday.
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