MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Entering Saturday night’s cage match of bruising Big 12 forwards, Devin Williams said he plans to show Baylor’s Rico Gathers that “I’m here to work.”
Friday’s pre-practice workout conveyed that.
Williams was drenched as he met with reporters, the sweaty aftermath of individual drills he endured even before No. 14 West Virginia (18-4, 7-2) began its team practice. The conference co-leaders opened as 7.5-point favorites over No. 15 Baylor (17-4, 6-3) despite the Bears winning four straight meetings overall and all three at the WVU Coliseum.
“It’s time to be getting that monkey off our back,” said Williams.
The game sold out two weeks ago and fans may be bring extra voltage after watching West Virginia rally from 15 points down at Iowa State. That kept the Mountaineers square with Oklahoma atop the league standings, while Baylor looms in the cluster of three teams one game back.
Williams grabbed 18 rebounds in Ames, matching the most by any player in a Big 12 game this season. Gathers grabbed 21 during a nonconference romp over Northwestern (La.) State.
Williams leads the league in defensive rebounding percentage, while Gather is tops in offensive percentage.
Williams is slightly taller and features better shooting range. Gathers is less foul-prone and owns the edge in athleticism. Lest we forget this rim-destroying dunk he proffered at the Coliseum last year:
That bullish slam punctuated Gathers’ 17-point, 16-rebound performance in an 87-69 Baylor runaway. The complement to Gathers’ power is Taurean Prince’s versatility.
“He’s to Baylor what Georges Niang is to Iowa State,” said West Virginia coach Bob Huggins. “He can play in the post, he can play on the perimeter and he can bounce it.”
With forward Jonathan Holton suspended a third game after violating team rules, the Mountaineers seem particularly vulnerable on the boards. Yet they’ll have the same lineup that easily outrebounded Iowa State.
“We’ve won conference games when Jon didn’t score,” Huggins said. “We’ve played without somebody a lot of the time because of foul trouble. Our guys are used to playing with different combinations and different people.”
Tipoff: 8 p.m. Saturday in Morgantown (ESPN2)
RPIs: West Virginia 13, Baylor 26
Scouting Baylor: In Gathers, Taurean Prince, Ishmail Wainwright, Lester Medford and Al Freeman, the Bears join Oklahoma as the only two Big 12 teams to maintain the same starting five all season. … Baylor stands 19th nationally in offensive efficiency because of its high assist-to-turnover ratio led by Medford (9.0 points, 7.1 assists) and aggressive offensive rebounding led by Gathers (13.0 points, 10.4 rebounds). … The 6-foot-8 Prince (15.1 points, 5.9 rebounds) presents a matchup problem because of his 3-point range. He made 9-of-16 against West Virginia over three meetings last season. … The sophomore Freeman (11.8 points, 40 percent from 3) was a UCLA signee granted a release after Ben Howland’s firing. He had his worst offensive game of the season against Texas, going 1-for-6 with two points and three turnovers. … 6-9 reserve forward Jonathan Motley (10.8 points, 5.3 rebounds) boasts a 7-foot-3 wingspan. … The Bears are 2-5 vs. the RPI top 50, including a 94-89 win in Ames. … Since 2012, Baylor is the second-winningest Big 12 program behind only Kansas.
WVU trends: Devin Williams (13.2 points, 8.9 rebounds) had one of his career-best games with 20 points and 15 boards in last season’s 87-69 home loss to Baylor. The junior forward tops the Big 12 with 137 free-throw attempts. … Jaysean Paige (14.0 points, 3.7 rebounds) currently owns the No. 2 player-efficiency rating in the Big 12 behind Buddy Hield. … Tarik Philip (8.4 points, 3.0 assists) played a career-high 31 minutes at Iowa State and handed out seven assists, his most in 27 Big 12 games. … Jevon Carter (10.4 points, 3.3 assists), held scoreless in 23 minutes at Iowa State, is 2-of-21 from 3-point range in his last six games. Daxter Miles (10.3 points, 2.3 rebounds) scored 11 in Ames but matched his season low with 19 minutes, has slumped to 25 percent on 3s and is on pace to double his freshman turnover total. “I’ve given those two a lot of leeway,” Huggins said. “It’s kind of time for them to understand a little bit better about what we have to do to win.”
Line: West Virginia -7.5
Prediction: West Virginia 75-72