West Virginia’s third straight loss seemed imminent, until Tarik Phillip’s dramatic 54 seconds flipped the ending in Lubbock.
The backup point guard made two late steals and scored the game’s final eight points, prompting the No. 6 Mountaineers to an 80-76 comeback win that stunned upset-starved Texas Tech.
Phillip finished with 20 points, sixth man Jaysean Paige scored 22 and West Virginia (16-3, 5-2) rejoined the four-team pack atop the Big 12 standings despite foul trouble that fed into brilliant 32-of-34 foul shooting by the Red Raiders (12-6, 2-5).
“Hey, we won,” said coach Bob Huggins, whose team trailed 72-67 with 2:21 remaining and by four in the final minute.