Late Baylor run dooms WVU 71-62

No. 10 West Virginia (23-7, 11-6) couldn’t withstand a late second half run falling to Baylor 71-62 in the rematch in Waco Monday night.

The Mountaineers led the Bears by eight points with just over nine minutes left in the game but Baylor used a massive 30-13 run to stretch their lead to double digits down the stretch. After forcing 29 turnovers in the first meeting, West Virginia managed to only create 18 in the second.

Junior guard Daxter Miles would draw the start again in the place of sophomore forward Esa Ahmad, who missed his third consecutive game due to a back injury.

Junior guard Jevon Carter led the Mountaineers in scoring with 18 points, while senior guard Tarik Phillip scored 12 points and junior forward Elijah Macon added 11 points.

Baylor was first on the board, but the two teams struggled to score through the first three minutes with the edge to the Bears at 6-0. The Mountaineers would first get on the board with a Carter three at the 16:24 mark to cut the deficit in half in the early goings of the opening frame.

The Bears would stretch their lead to 10-3, as West Virginia dealt with foul trouble to both Miles and Adrian, both receiving their second fouls in the opening six minutes of the game. The Mountaineers did not score for 4:27 until a free throw by Macon and a Teyvon Myers basket cut the deficit to 12-6.

The advantage would be 14-12 after the Mountaineers effectively rebounded from a slow start to attack the rim and force the issue at the Bears and would take the lead 18-15 after a pair of free throws on a technical foul assessed to Baylor coach Scott Drew and a successful one and one.

West Virginia would hold a 30-28 lead at halftime as the Mountaineers would use eight turnovers to turn that into 12 points to take the advantage into the break.

The Mountaineers would lead 41-36 in the first five minutes of the second half, its biggest lead of the game to that point, as the pressure started to cause issues for Baylor. However, on the other end, Johnathan Motley attacked the rim with the first eight points for the Bears.

The lead would swell to 45-38 after a basket by Macon as foul trouble continued to mount on both ends, with the Bears heading into the bonus with 11:25 left in the game. Baylor would continue to struggle from the floor, not making a field goal in over five minutes but free throws kept the Bears afloat.

West Virginia would lead 49-41 with just over nine minutes left in the game after a Carter jumper and the Mountaineers would move to a 1-3-1 defense to attempt to stymie the Bears. But then a 9-0 run by the Bears would push them ahead for the first time in the second half at 50-49.

The Bears run would stretch to 16-2 over 4:40 as the lead would sit at 57-51 for the home team with 4:01 remaining in the game. From there, Baylor would stretch the advantage to nine at 62-53 with a three pointer with only 2:40 left in the game.

And from there, the Bears would be able to effectively put the game away down the stretch from the free throw line.

West Virginia will close the regular season at home on senior night at 7 p.m. Friday against Iowa State.