MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Behind 17 points and 16 rebounds from Rico Gathers, No. 19 Baylor flexed all the muscle and moxie Saturday while burying No. 15 West Virginia 87-69.
“Rico has actually changed the way we practice rebounding drills,” said Baylor coach Scott Drew. “Too many of our guys were getting injured batting against him, because he does such an excellent job fighting.”
Royce O’Neal and Taurean Prince each scored 15 points for the Bears (18-5, 6-4), who broke the game open with 21 unanswered points early. Baylor sank 55 percent of its shots from the floor and placed five scorers in double figures while winning for third consecutive season at the WVU Coliseum.
Gathers, the conference’s top rebounder, had his 12th double-double by halftime when Baylor led 46-30. The cushion ballooned to 26 in the second half as the Mountaineers (18-5, 6-4) stomached their worst home loss since falling, 62-39, to Cincinnati on Jan. 30, 2008.
West Virginia’s Devin Williams produced 20 points and 15 rebounds, though it was overshadowed by his team’s second blowout loss in four days.
“We’re in a slump right now,” Williams said. “Losing two games in a row is tough, but it happens—especially in the best conference in the country. We’ve got to get back to being ourselves.”
While Baylor enjoyed its top percentage shooting performance of the season, West Virginia (18-5, 6-4) shot 36 percent overall and 6-of-23 from 3-point range.
“If they were making shots, then it’s a different game,” Drew said. “Some nights you make them, some nights you don’t, but we did a good job contesting those shots.”
Baylor, which came in leading the Big 12 in scoring defense at 58.2 points per game, remained one of nine Division I teams who had yet to allow a 75-point game this season.
West Virginia’s leading scorer, point guard Juwan Staten, had six assists but finished with only six points on 2-of-7 shooting. Guards Jevon Carter scored 13 and Daxter Miles added 10.
Baylor point guard Kenny Chery finished with 11 points and four assists, helping the Bears to their first road victory against an RPI top-100 team this season.
“Baylor, they’re good now,” said West Virginia coach Bob Huggins. “They have a lot of guys who can make shots.”
After the Mountaineers held their final lead at 3-2, Baylor spurted ahead with a 21-0 run spanning six minutes and eventually led, 30-8. At that point the Mountaineers had more 3-second violations (four) than field goals (three).
While West Virginia’s press created 19 turnovers, the Mountaineers committed 16 themselves, not nearly the disparity they have enjoyed in most games.
“We have to turn people over, but we can’t turn it over,” said Huggins. “The turnovers were 19-16, but when we win they’re 19-8.”
Gathers had 10 points and 10 rebounds in the first half. O’Neal scored 11 points and Prince had 10 off the bench as Baylor shot 59 percent in the opening 20 minutes.
A 3-pointer by Carter two seconds before the halftime horn pulled West Virginia to within 16, drawing only a modest cheer from the home crowd of 12,783 that was deflated by the lopsided start.
That gave Carter five of the Mountaineers’ 10 first-half baskets. He did not score again.
“It just seemed like we gave up,” Carter said. “Like we didn’t keep fighting.”