West Virginia beaten by Baylor 94-81
West Virginia was bullied by No. 12/13 Baylor in a 94-81 loss inside the Coliseum Saturday night.
West Virginia had several in double figures with guard RaeQuan Battle scoring 25 points and center Jesse Edwards finishing with 21 points and 9 rebounds. Guard Seth Wilson did not suit up in the game due to a death in the family.
It's the fourth consecutive loss for the Mountaineers and drops their overall record to 8-17 and just 3-9 in the Big 12 Conference which puts them in a tie for last in the league.
The Bears were able to get to the rim with 30 points in the paint but also hit 38-percent of their three-pointers and shoot 54-percent from the floor.
Edwards got West Virginia on the board first with a layup on the first possession and the two teams would exchange baskets over the first few trips with the Mountaineers leading 8-7 after the first couple trips down the floor.
It was Edwards who scored 6 of those first 8 as the Mountaineers made an effort to get the ball into the paint to their senior big in the opening minutes of the game.
The Bears would take a 20-14 edge approaching the 11-minute mark as turnovers again proved to be a difference maker for West Virginia leading to runout easy scoring opportunities for the opposition.
A Josiah Harris three-ball would cut the deficit to 21-17 halfway through the first half of play as the two teams started to settle in after a quick start out of the gates.
Baylor's edge would stand at 30-22 with under seven remaining in the half as the Bears continued to effectively get to the basket with 18 of those points coming in the paint. And West Virginia would fall behind double-digits at 37-26 after another uncontested dunk at the 4:22 mark which forced Josh Eilert to use a timeout.
A Battle three would knock the edge down to six to keep the Mountaineers within striking distance as the clock approached the halftime break but the Bears would tack on another basket to lead 42-34 heading into the locker room.
The Bears would use a 6-0 to start the second half to push the lead back out to 48-34 with just 1:13 off the clock and the edge would swell to 17 points with 16:30 left.
Baylor continued to control the game at 66-44 nearing the 12-minute mark as the Bears were able to hit several big shots to stymie any attempt to get back in the game. Eventually, the Mountaineers would string together a 6-0 run to cut the score to 71-55 with 8:44 left and forced the Bears to take a timeout of their own.
But every time the Mountaineers would make a run, the Bears would respond and keep West Virginia from ever truly making things interesting in the second half despite cutting it down to just an 89-80 lead with 1:23 left.
West Virginia will next play host to UCF Tuesday night inside the Coliseum. The game is set to tip off at 7 p.m.
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