Shannon's game-high total came on 7 of 12 from the floor and hitting 6 of his 7 free throw attempts.
The free throw line was a contributing factor in how this one was decided. The Red Raiders made 25 of 36 from the charity stripe with West Virginia committing 30 fouls and four of its players having their afternoons end prematurely.
Forward Pauly Paulicap was the first to foul out with 5:50 to go and the Mountaineers trailing 55-54. Forward Jalen Bridges' day ended with 1:56 left and then guard Malik Curry and forward Gabe Osabuohien hit the showers soon after when WVU was in chase mode trying to regain possession of the basketball.
"The reality is we shouldn't be in foul trouble when we're playing zone," West Virginia's Bob Huggins, coaching his 1,300th career game, said afterwards. He said the Mountaineers used a 1-2-2 zone for a good portion of today's game.
West Virginia had a 54-53 lead with 6:21 to go on Taz Sherman's 3 before consecutive wide-open triples from Shannon during a 48-second stretch gave the Red Raiders a nine-point advantage.
In addition to fouling, West Virginia also turned the ball over 17 times and allowed the Red Raiders to grab 17 offensive rebounds and 39 overall.
"Second shots killed us because they got them and we don't get them," Huggins said. "I've been saying it all year, we don't rebound the basketball."
Texas Tech (15-4, 5-2) made all seven of its field goal attempts to conclude the game.
Sherman scored 21 for the Mountaineers, which drops to 13-5, 2-4. He was 8 of 15 shooting and made all three of his free throw attempts.
Guard Malik Curry was the only other WVU player to reach double digits with 11 points – seven of those coming from the foul line.
Second-leading overall scorer Sean McNeil, who was leading the Mountaineers with a 15.4 points-per-game average in Big 12 play, was smothered by Texas Tech's defense for most of the afternoon. He finished with just 7 points on 2 of 7 shooting and missed all three of his 3-point attempts.
"They chased him," Huggins said of Texas Tech's ability to slow down McNeil. "He and Taz have gotten into this 'we're going to pump fake it and dribble it instead of shoot it' and they didn't go for the pump fake and they guarded them," Huggins said.
West Virginia shot 40.4% overall from the floor to Texas Tech's 40.7%, but the Red Raiders out-shot the Mountaineers 25 to 18 at the free throw line.
Kevin Obanor contributed 18 points and Bryson Williams added 13 for Tech.
"They don't make a lot of shots," Huggins explained. "They score it around the goal and for the most part they make free throws. They've got two guys that can make shots (Williams and Shannon) and they're pretty good at making shots.
"I thought we could stop them, but we didn't rebound it, which has been a sore spot for us all year," Huggins added.
Points in the paint were 30-16 in Texas Tech's favor with WVU once again struggling to find its mark close to the basket.
There were nine lead changes and seven ties in todays' game. Texas Tech's biggest lead was its final 13-point margin.
This afternoon's victory boosted Texas Tech's record to 12-0 at United Supermarkets Arena this season. West Virginia swept the season series against the Red Raiders last year and had won four out of the last five.
WVU returns to the Coliseum to face Oklahoma on Wednesday night in a game that will tip off at 8 p.m. and will be televised nationally on ESPN2. The Mountaineers will be looking to snap their season-long three game losing streak, all coming against Top 25-ranked teams.
"The leadership starts with me – I've done it before and I think I can do it again," Huggins said.
Tickets for Wednesday's game are still available and can be purchased by logging on to WVUGAME.com.
No. 18 Texas Tech Downs West Virginia 78-65 in Lubbock - West Virginia University Athletics - WVU Athletics
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