Pat Suemnick, Kerr Kriisa, RaeQuan Battle help West Virginia beat No. 25 Texas 76-73

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — Pat Suemnick set career highs of 16 points and six rebounds, West Virginia built a double-digit lead and held on for a 76-73 win over No. 25 Texas on Saturday night.

Kerr Kriisa and RaeQuan Battle added 14 points apiece and Quinn Slazinski had 13 points for West Virginia (6-10, 1-2 Big 12), which broke a three-game losing streak.

Texas (12-4, 1-2) couldn’t overcome another late deficit after beating Cincinnati in the final seconds on Tuesday.

West Virginia has rotated players looking for any type of inside presence while center Jesse Edwards recuperates from a broken wrist. Suemnick has started the past two games.

Suemnick dunked off a rebound and Kriisa hit a 3-pointer to put West Virginia ahead to stay, 40-38, with 15:28 remaining.

Texas went three minutes between field goals and Slazinski sank two free throws to cap a 7-0 run for West Virginia’s largest lead, 59-48, with 5:45 remaining.

Max Abmas scored 19 of his season-high 32 points in the final five minutes, including two free throws with 1:08 left to cut the Texas deficit to 68-65. But the Longhorns got no closer.

Dylan Disu, who had scored a career-high 33 points against Cincinnati, fouled out with 2:16 remaining and finished with 18 points.

POLL IMPLICATIONS

The Longhorns could fall out of the AP Top 25 poll for the first time since midway through the 2021-22 season. That won’t get the most notice, though, because No. 23 Gonzaga’s poll streak of a whopping 143 consecutive weeks also may be over after the Bulldogs lost to Santa Clara on Thursday.

BIG PICTURE

Texas: The Longhorns committed 22 turnovers, were outrebounded 32-21 and have lost two of three.

West Virginia: After giving up 44 points in the paint in a blowout loss to Kansas State on Tuesday, the Mountaineers looked more aggressive on defense and made smarter decisions Saturday.

UP NEXT

Texas hosts UCF on Wednesday.

West Virginia plays at No. 9 Oklahoma on Wednesday, the second of three straight ranked opponents.

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