WACO, Texas — Taking a glimpse at next season it was in no hurry to see, West Virginia experienced life without Juwan Staten and Gary Browne on Saturday.
The experience was not a fruitful one.
While the No. 20 Mountaineers clearly missed their veteran guards, Baylor’s Taurean Prince and Royce O’Neal seemingly didn’t miss anything, at least not from 3-point range, fueling a 78-66 win at the blacked-out Ferrell Center.
No. 19 Baylor (22-7, 10-6) won its fourth straight game and swept the season series by getting 20 points from Prince and 18 from O’Neale, roommates who each made 4-of-6 shots from deep.
West Virginia’s set of roomies played well at times too—Jevon Carter scoring 25 and Daxter Miles adding 11—but the freshmen weren’t able to keep the offense flowing. And the vaunted “Press Virginia” forced only eight turnovers, six fewer than its previous a season-low.
Those were areas where West Virginia (22-7, 10-6) most missed Staten, who sat out with a knee injury, and Browne, who injured his left ankle less than 3 minutes into the game.
“Only eight turnovers, I’m really happy about that against a team like West Virginia,” said Baylor coach Scott Drew, whose team joined West Virginia and Iowa State in a three-way tie for third place.
“But not having Staten definitely affected their pressure.”
In a first half reminiscent of what Baylor produced in Morgantown—when WVU had a full compliment of players—the Bears sprinted out to a 19-point edge before leading 45-29 at the break.
The runaway seemed inevitable before Carter, playing the point in Staten’s absence, helped shoot his short-handed team back into contention and Baylor made only three baskets in the first 11 minutes of the second half.
West Virginia pulled within 56-47 and temporarily quieted the home crowd, but a 3-pointer by Prince off a missed Baylor free throw swung back the momentum.
“It’s a (nine-point) game where we should’ve had the ball back and we didn’t get the ball back,” said West Virginia coach Bob Huggins.
That became part of Baylor’s game-sealing 19-8 run that included a 3 by O’Neale and his drive-and-pitch to Prince for another 3—O’Neale’s game-high seventh assist.
“They’ve got a Nerf hoop in their room, so they’re spending extra time working on their game,” Drew joked. “But Royce is an unselfish player, a great passer. I think (Prince) has simplified his game and he’s making high-percentage plays.”
Baylor’s shooting was only part of the story, because Rico Gathers did his usual business with 17 points, 10 rebounds, two blocks and countless collisions. None proved more crucial than landing on Browne’s ankle early in the game.
West Virginia wound up with 13 turnovers, only the second time this season it finished with a deficit in that category.
“Gary went down and we just started throwing the ball to them,” said Huggins. “Losing Gary was hard because you have to be able to make some adjustments during the game. (Baylor) mixed a triangle-and-2 in with the zone and we’ve got two freshmen out there trying to figure it out.”
Browne’s status: Though cautious about diagnosing Browne’s injury before consulting with team trainer Randy Meador, Huggins suggested the senior might be out for Tuesday’s game at Kansas.
“Don’t look good,” Huggins said. “I think at best it’s a high-ankle sprain, which is the worst you can have. But that’s why they give you 13 scholarships.”
Gathering himself: Feeling he was fouled on a first-half drive to the basket, Gathers knelt on the floor for a moment and remained on that end of the court while Baylor played defense. His cherry-picking paid off when Prince made a steal and fired a 60-foot outlet pass, which Gathers thunder-flushed.
“Rico likes a physical game and that’s what you get with West Virginia,” Drew said.
Ball movement: Crisp and patient passing by O’Neale led to a Prince 3 as the shot clock ticked down early in the second half.
“Earlier in the season we probably would’ve shot that with 7 or 8 seconds left and not gotten nearly as good a look,” said Drew.
The Bears made 8-of-15 from 3-point range, upping their latest three-game total to 30-of-57.
“They shoot it better than we do, and they pass it way better than we do,” Huggins said. “So we have to play way harder than they do, and today we didn’t.”