Game Preview: Texas set to face West Virginia on the road

The Texas Longhorns (11-6, 3-2) travel east to face the #6 West Virginia Mountaineers (15-2, 4-1) on Wednesday evening. The matchup sets up the Longhorns, who will face the Kansas Jayhawks on Saturday, in back-to-back true road games for the first time against AP Top-10 teams.

The Longhorns maintain sole possession of 5^th place in the Big 12 Conference after fighting off a fierce rally by Oklahoma State on Saturday, winning 74-69. Isaiah Taylor, Eric Davis Jr. & Kerwin Roach Jr. each scored double-digits in the win, and the Longhorns committed just 8 turnovers in the game. In the last three contests Texas has committed only 19 turnovers.

The Mountaineers suffered their first conference loss this season last Saturday, losing to Oklahoma in Norman 70-68. West Virginia remains atop the Big 12 standings and ranks first in the conference in scoring defense, allowing opponents to just 63.8 points per game. Senior guard Jaysean Paige scored 18 points in the loss. Paige and junior forward Devin Williams both average double-digits in scoring, with 13.7 & 14.1 points per game respectively.

Texas is averaging 74.8 points per game while the Mountaineers are scoring 84.2. The Longhorns’ leading scorer is point guard Isaiah Taylor, who averages 17.2 points per game. Taylor’s output ranks third in the Big 12 behind Oklahoma’s Buddy Hield (26.1 ppg) and Iowa State’s Georges Niang (19.7 ppg).

West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins gave Taylor high praised when he talked with wvusports.com earlier this week.

“I like everything about him,” Huggins said. “I think he understands when people are coming open and he gets the ball to them. He’s the best guy in our league at pushing the ball. He’s got the best mid-range game in our league. He’s just really good and he’s good defensively. He hasn’t shot a bunch of threes but he’s capable.”

Texas has defeated a Top-10 ranked team this season, with the win over then-#3 North Carolina. West Virginia beat top-ranked Kansas two weeks ago 74-63.

The Longhorns own the all-time record between the two teams, 6-4 and have won four of the last five games against the Mountaineers. Texas split games with Bob Huggins’ team last year but lost in Morgantown to a ranked-Mountaineer team 71-64. West Virginia is undefeated at home this season.

The game will be televised on ESPNU at 6:00 PM CST.