Led by a career-high 26 points from West Virginia junior guard Sean McNeil, the No. 14 Mountaineers finished a regular-season sweep of No. 7 Texas Tech with an 82-71 victory over the Red Raiders on Tuesday night.
Texas Tech coach Chris Beard did not make it to the final whistle after having his last nerve stepped on by the referees during the loss.
Upset about 29 of the game’s 49 fouls being called on his team and feeling that officials missed an important gesture by a West Virginia player, 47-year-old Beard screamed at the refs before dropping to the hardwood and mockingly calling for a timeout. The officials let the tantrum continue for quite a while, but eventually tossed him.
Beard said afterward he was mimicking calling for a timeout because he saw a West Virginia player doing the same prior to his outburst and the referees missed it.
“There was no message there. I just thought, sometimes from a coaching standpoint you’ve got to fight for your players … from my point of view, the West Virginia player was calling for a timeout on the floor. I could see it and hear it where I was standing. It’s still a two-possession game at that point,” Beard said after the game. “If that call is made, then we’ve got a chance to set up our press, still have a chance to play the game.”
A former Associated Press National Coach of the Year, Beard took the Red Raiders to the Elite Eight for the first time in program history in 2018 and led the team to the National Final the following year. Entering this year, Beard had a 94-44 record through four seasons at Texas Tech and a 72.0 winning percentage overall as an NCAA coach.
The loss dropped the Red Raiders to 14-6 on the season and ended their three-game winning streak a day after the team received its highest ranking of the season.
The win was the third in a row for 14-5 West Virginia.
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