Yahoo Finance Texas blows 19-point lead to West Virginia after wild week altered by winter storm
Texas didn’t get to practice until Thursday, and missed a game this week against Oklahoma because of it.
The unusual week, it seems, may have doomed Texas in the long run.
The Longhorns blew a 19-point lead and fell 84-82 to the Mountaineers on Saturday afternoon at the Erwin Center.
Winter storm limited Texas this week
Shaka Smart, who is in his sixth season at Texas, is no stranger to winter weather.
What he experienced this week, though, was like nothing he’s seen before.
“I wasn’t really prepared for this,” Smart said Friday, via the Austin American Statesman. “I’m from Wisconsin, it snows all the time. But I’ve learned over the last few days, this is different.”
Still, though, Texas opted to move forward with its game against West Virginia on Saturday — though did so without fans present.
Whether they should have been playing, though, isn’t something Smart wanted to debate.
“Just like with COVID, we leave obviously the final say on that to people up in charge,” Smart said, via the Austin American Statesman.
“If it’s safe, if it is something that does not put our players or anyone else that’s coming in our building at risk or in a bad place, and they say it’s OK to play, then that’s what our guys want to do.”
Texas blows 19-point lead
The Longhorns, despite a 19-point lead in the second half, stumbled late and dropped a key Big 12 matchup to West Virginia on Saturday.
Miles McBride led West Virginia with 17 points and four assists. Sean McNeil added 16 points while shooting 5-of-7 from the field. Courtney Ramey led Texas with a career-high 28 points while shooting 7-of-8 from behind the arc. Matt Coleman III added 20 points and seven assists.
Texas did have an opportunity to tie the game in the final seconds, however, failed to convert the inbounds play. Yet officials never called any fouls during the sequence despite the fact that several were clearly committed.
West Virginia committed about three fouls on this play. Greg Brown was held and Jericho Sims was fouled at the rim. pic.twitter.com/pIu5v18XQS
— Rob Dauster (@RobDauster) February 20, 2021
Smart said he wasn’t given an explanation from the officials about the play.
“That was a physical play before the ball came in,” Smart said, via Burnt Orange Nation’s Westcott Eberts. “I guess I’ll leave it at that.”
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