West Virginia falls to Baylor at home 83-78
West Virginia had their opportunities but fell to Baylor 83-78 to drop to 0-4 in the Big 12.
Joe Toussaint led the Mountaineers in scoring with 20 points while Tre Mitchell had 14 points but fouled out of the game.
Baylor got on the scoreboard first with a basket from Jalen Bridges as the Mountaineers started the game missing their first four shots from the field. Stevenson would tie the game on a nice pass from Tre Mitchell but it would be a sloppy start for both teams four minutes into the contest.
The Bears lead would grow to 9-2 with Keyonte George going on his own 7-0 run approaching the 14-minute mark of the first half.
The Mountaineers would then go on their own min-run to cut the lead to 10-7 as the two teams continued to battle back and forth.
With just under nine-minutes left in the first half, the Mountaineers would cut the Baylor lead to 15-14, before a three-pointer would create a little more distance between the two. At the time, West Virginia was shooting just 29-percent from the field but was able to hang close because of the Bears struggles.
The two would battle back and forth with the score sitting at 33-27 Baylor out front.
The second half would look like an entirely different ball-game to start with both teams going back and forth scoring and the Mountaineers cutting the deficit to 46-45 with 13:39 left. The Mountaineers took the lead at the 11:35 mark at 49-48, but lost it on the next possession down the floor.
The Mountaineers would take a 59-54 lead with eight minutes left in the second half as both teams dealt with foul trouble to key parts of their rotations.
However, the free throw line allowed the Bears to get back into the contest and take the lead 64-62 with just 3:47 remaining in the game. The two teams would continue to exchange leads down the stretch with Baylor seizing a 67-66 edge with 2:19 left.
And that lead would swell to 72-66 with 1:39 left before a pair of free throws cut the edge to four with time ticking off the clock.
The Mountaineers would cut the score to 81-78, but the Bears would salt the game away at the line. West Virginia has now dropped their fourth straight game to open Big 12 play.
West Virginia next plays Oklahoma on the road Saturday at noon.
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