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FINAL: Baylor staves off short-handed Mountaineers

Baylor forward Taurean Prince (21) grabs the rebound in front of West Virginia’s Jaysean Paige during Saturday’s game at the Ferrell Center.

 

WACO, Texas — It was Blackout Day at the Ferrell Center, with No. 19 Baylor nattily attired in dark unis and No. 20 West Virginia wearing the whites.

There was no Juwan Staten for the Mountaineers today, quite a handicap, obviously, which stood out in a 78-66 loss. In Staten’s place, freshman Jevon Carter made his first start and Gary Browne suffered an early left ankle injury.

A recap of the live-game updates throughout the afternoon:

Baylor leads 78-66 (final)
West Virginia won’t be happy with a 12-point loss, but without Staten—and for the final 37 minutes, without Browne—that was about the best the Mountaineers could expect. … Jevon Carter’s 25 paced WVU, while Dax Miles scored 11 and Elijah Macon added nine. They needed more than four points and six rebounds from Devin Williams today, though. … Baylor was by Prince with 20, O’Neale with 18 and Rico Gathers with 17 and 10 boards.

Baylor leads 77-58 (3:40 second half)
Baylor has attempted 31 free throws to West Virginia’s 12 and has this one under control. Prince has 20 points and O’Neale 17, dropping daggers from 3-point land. Carter has 23 points for WVU, which has 18 offensive boards and leads the rebounding war 34-29.

Baylor leads 68-52 (7:40 second half)
From the Land of Lost Cause to a single-digit deficit, West Virginid added some intrigue to the second half of this game—at least temporarily. For a spell there was lots of grit on the defensive end (Nate Adrian deflected a Gathers dunk attempt) and another 3 from the wing by Carter as WVU pulled within nine. But Baylor sandwiched three 3s and a pair of Cherry foul shots for an 11-2 run that has stretched the lead once more.

Baylor leads 50-36 (15:05 second half)
Another 3 by Carter makes him 4-of-6 from deep and gives him 14 points. An explosive half from the freshman is one of the seven signs of a WVU comeback. Baylor doesn’t have quite the energy it showed in the opening half.

Baylor leads 45-29 (halftime)
WVU normally would be thrilled with 48-percent shooting, but it’s of little consequence right now because of nine turnovers. Outside of Carter’s 11 points, no other Mountaineer has more than four.

Baylor leads 45-29 (halftime)
Behind 11 points from Prince and nine each by O’Neale and Gathers, it has been all Bears. They’re shooting 65 percent, including 4-of-6 from deep, and hold a 13-11 edge in rebounds.

Baylor forward Rico Gathers battles West Virginia’s Devin Williams for a loose ball at the Ferrell Center.

 

Baylor leads 36-20 (3:31 first half)
Huggins has used his third timeout but nothing has stopped the Bears momentum. Taurean Prince has 11 points and Baylor has made 14-of-22 shots (63 percent) overall and 3-of-5 from 3-point range. WVU is 9-of-22 but has seven turnovers to Baylor’s three. Press Virginia can’t live with such deficits, obviously, but Press Virginia can’t live without its two most experienced guards either.

Baylor leads 25-16 (7:53 first half)
Weird stat alert: Baylor is one of three teams in Division I to lead every game by six points this season. Speaking of sixes, that’s how many turnovers WVU has so far, including four by Carter and Tarik Phillip, who are handling the point guard duties. … Baylor has started 10-of-16 (62 percent), continuing the hot shooting it displayed in Ames.

Baylor leads 17-12 (11:29 first half)
Despite four early turnovers, West Virginia remains in the game thanks to Carter sinking two 3s and Holton adding two baskets (one on a tip-in). If Browne is unable to return, the turnovers might really mount up.

Baylor leads 13-4 (15:00 first half)
A Gathers dunk, an offensive rebound feeding Royce O’Neale’s 3 and a tough Kenny Chery step-back to beat the shot clock. Those were Baylor’s opening three possessions. That led to a Huggins timeout. Then came two free throws by Gathers, another offensive rebound, and two buckets by Johnathan Motley. Hence, Huggins uses timeout No. 2. … Making that ugly start even uglier, Browne limped off after Gathers landed on his ankle during a loose-ball pileup.

 

PREGAME NOTES

— Staten won’t be in the lineup today, still suffering from the knee injury suffered against Texas. He actually played through the injury the night it happened but hasn’t practiced full-speed since. Huggins also said the point guard is struggling with a groin injury.

— My preview prediction was Baylor 65-62, though that pick was made with Staten’s participation in mind.

 





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