WVU beats down No. 1 Baylor 89-68
No. 10 West Virginia (14-2, 3-1) took down a No. 1 team for the third time inside the Coliseum in program history Tuesday night when the Mountaineers beat down Baylor 89-68 in front of a sold out crowd.
West Virginia led by seven at the break, but pulled away in the second half pushing the lead to as many as 26-points in front of the season-large crowd of 14,632 inside the Coliseum. The program is now 3-4 all-time against No. 1 teams inside the Coliseum after previously defeating Kansas and UNLV.
The Mountaineers never trailed against the previously unbeaten Bears and were tied for only the game’s opening possessions as West Virginia forced a total of 29 total turnovers frustrating Baylor on both ends of the floor.
Senior forward Nathan Adrian led the Mountaineer with 22 points, while others in double figures were junior guard Jevon Carter (17 points), senior guard Tarik Phillip (11 points) and senior forward Brandon Watkins (11 points).
West Virginia was first on the scoreboard with a basket from Watkins to give the Mountaineers an early 2-0 lead at the 18:33 mark of the first half as the Coliseum brimmed with energy. The Mountaineers pressure forced four turnovers in the first 2:30 minutes of the game but on the other end the Bears length presented problems for West Virginia in the half court in the early going of the game.
A three from Carter would give West Virginia a 6-2 lead at the 16:45 mark and then the two teams would exchange baskets to keep the Mountaineers ahead by four points at the first media timeout.
West Virginia would continue to hound Baylor with pressure early in the game forcing the Bears into nine turnovers at the 14:07 mark as the Mountaineers raced out to a 13-4 advantage. Baylor would make a run to cut the lead to 15-10, before Adrian would hit a layup to push the Mountaineers back out front 17-10 as the first half reached the mid-way point.
The two teams would then exchange three-pointers as the action would continue to go back and forth between the clubs. The Mountaineers would force the 15th Baylor turnover of the first half with 7:53 left to play and West Virginia ahead 24-16.
West Virginia would continue to keep the Bears at a distance leading 30-23 with 4:59 left in the first half but the Bears started to get to the rim and had connected on 56-percent of their shots to that point. Free throws continued to plague the Mountaineers in the first half, as Baylor cut into the lead to make it 32-28 with 2:20 to play as the offense bogged down in the half court.
The Mountaineers would get the final possession of the half and Adrian would hit a jumper from the foul line to put the home team into the break leading 39-32 over the nation’s top ranked team. Carter and Adrian both led the Mountaineers in scoring with nine points each at the half.
Baylor opened the second half with a quick basket but the Mountaineers would respond with one of their own to keep the advantage at seven points through the first minute and a half. West Virginia would use a 7-0 run to push the lead out to 50-37, the largest of the game, forcing the Bears to use a timeout and bringing the sold out Coliseum crowd to its feet.
Baylor continued to attack cutting the lead quickly back down to nine points, but a three by Adrian would push the advantage back out to 55-43 at the 13:20 mark. And the lead would stay at 12-points for the next three minutes as the two teams would trade baskets without either moving the needle.
However, Baylor would continue to struggle and the Mountaineers would string together a few possessions to put the lead at 65-47 at the 8:00 minute mark. That lead would swell to 76-50 with 5:26 left as the Mountaineers took complete control in the late second half.
From there, the Mountaineers would cruise to the win over the Bears as head coach Bob Huggins was able to empty the bench in the final minutes. Final: WVU 89, Baylor 68.
West Virginia will travel to Texas Saturday for a 4 p.m. tip off.