Evans, Texas Tech ready for West Virginia (Mar 09, 2018)
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Keenan Evans essentially was a hobbled cheerleader the last time No. 14 Texas Tech faced No. 18 West Virginia.
Now the Red Raiders' all-conference guard is back in uniform and back in his playmaking groove as the teams prepare to face off in the Big 12 tournament semifinals Friday night.
"High, high confidence," Evans said after scoring 25 points in a 73-69 victory over Texas on Thursday. "We got everybody back. We're getting healthier by the day. We all know what we can do and what we're capable of."
While Texas Tech (24-8) advanced past the quarterfinals for the first time since 2005, West Virginia (23-9) recently has grown accustomed to making deep runs at the Sprint Center. The Mountaineers, runners-up for the past two years, rode a torrid second half to beat Baylor 78-65 on Thursday.
Esa Ahmad, Daxter Miles and Jevon Carter combined for 58 points to disrupt the Bears' zone.
"When you win, everybody shines. When you lose, nobody shines," said Carter, who handed out 11 assists.
That trio will face another sort of look from the man-to-man defense of Texas Tech, which ranks fourth nationally in the KenPom defensive efficiency ratings.
The Red Raiders prevailed 77-76 in overtime Jan. 3 in Lubbock. West Virginia took revenge with last week's 84-74 victory in Morgantown on Senior Night. Evans sat out that game with a sprained toe.
Thanks to five days in the training room, that injury seemed a distant memory against the Longhorns. Evans played 35 minutes, made 7-of-10 shots from floor and got to the foul line 14 times by attacking the rim.
"I'm getting there, man," he said. "I'm getting there."
While Texas Tech and West Virginia are NCAA Tournament locks, their coaches are fiery personalities who demand defense and toughness and would take pride in hanging championship banner.
"We just don't want it to end. We want to keep playing," the Red Raiders' Chris Beard said. "I want to keep coaching these guys and I want to coach them two more times in Kansas City and six times in the NCAA Tournament."
Evans averages 17.6 points and is the perfect counterpart to Carter, who scores 17 per game and leads the conference in steals. Both players were lightly recruited out of high school only to emerge as elite seniors.
Carter scored 28 in Lubbock and another 21 on West Virginia's senior night with Evans watching.
Against Baylor, Carter made two momentum-swinging 3-pointers. One finally got the Mountaineers revving after they trailed 18-9 with 11 minutes elapsed. The second was a 60-foot bomb as the half expired to put West Virginia ahead 29-23.
