MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Daxter Miles rediscovered his long-range stroke to score a season-high 20 points and No. 14 West Virginia took sole possession of the Big 12 lead by beating No. 15 Baylor 80-69 on Saturday.
With more than 14,000 fans cramming into the Coliseum, Devin Williams produced 16 points and seven rebounds as the Mountaineers (19-4, 8-2) ended a three-year string of home losses to Baylor (17-6, 6-4).
Miles, only a 25-percent 3-point shooter this season, made 4-of-5 from deep—one of those a 25-footer from near his team’s bench after he noticed the shot clock ticking down.
“I’ve been watching a lot of film on my form shooting and I knew a few things were wrong with it,” he said. “I ain’t going to say what it was but I needed to get in the gym and work on it.”
“I’ve been watching a lot of film on my form shooting and I knew a few things were wrong with it. … I needed to get in the gym and work on it.” — Daxter Miles
Coach Bob Huggins credited Miles for being receptive to fixing mechanical flaws in his jumpshot, though after three s
“They want to be good players and they trust us,” Huggins said. “You’ve got habits ingrained for all those years and it take a pretty special guy to be able to stop what he’s doing wrong.”
Guards King McClure and Ish Wainwright scored 11 points apiece for the Bears, who sliced a 19-point deficit to 74-67 after stars Taurean Prince and Rico Gathers were benched. Prince finished with 10 points, none after halftime, and Gathers had five points and seven rebounds. They combined to shoot 6-of-25.
“Our bench did a great job getting us back in the game, but I think our seniors were 8-of-37 in this game,” said Baylor coach Scott Drew. “You’re not going to win many games that way.”
While the Bears struggled through a 1-for-16 second-half drought, Williams’ 17-foot jumper provided the widest margin at 62-43. He also had two dunks as West Virginia earned only its second win over Baylor since joining the Big 12 in 2012-2013.
“We were 1-7 against them, so we wanted to change that,” Williams said. “Just had to make a statement that ain’t nobody going to bully us around.”
West Virginia’s Jaysean Paige continued making his case as the nation’s top sixth man, scoring 17 points from a variety of spots. He made a 3-pointer from the wing, sank a baseline jumper, penetrated Baylor’s zone for layups and scored on a putback after poking a rebound loose from Bears forward Johnathan Motley.
After top-ranked Oklahoma lost earlier in the night, the Mountaineers sit alone atop the standings entering Tuesday’s game at Kansas.
“I had a buddy who used to say, ‘The dog with the bone is always in the most danger,’” Huggins said.
“We were 1-7 against (Baylor), so we wanted to change that. Just had to make a statement that ain’t nobody going to bully us around.” — Devin Williams
Jevon Carter missed all three of his 3-point tries—he’s now in a 2-for-24 slump—but made up for it by handing out eight assists, five of them on 3-pointers.
“We had to use ball-fakes because we knew they were going to jump the passing lanes,” said Carter. “We had to get it in the middle and get it to the short corners, so that we had two-on-ones and three-on-ones.”
The Mountaineers finished 7-of-14 from beyond the arc and shot 49 percent overall compared to Baylor’s 38 percent.
“West Virginia really shot the ball well,” Drew said. “Got to credit them for executing on the offensive end.”
Prince finished 5-of-17 from the floor and was outplayed by his WVU counterpart Nathan Adrian (11 points, nine rebounds). Baylor’s top scorer committed his second foul 29 seconds before intermission after being stripped by Adrian in the backcourt.
After Adrian’s two free throws increased the Mountaineers’ lead to 38-29, he played more tight defense by preventing Prince from getting a shot before the half elapsed.
Paige, after averaging fewer than seven points against Baylor across three meetings last season, scored 11 in an opening half that featured six lead changes.
The Bears were ranked No. 2 nationally at 19.9 assists per game, but West Virginia dominated that category 20-10.
Mountaineers forward Jonathan Holton (suspension) missed his third consecutive game after violating team rules. Sources have indicated he would be eligible to return by Tuesday night’s game at Kansas, though Huggins has given no timetable publicly.