No. 19 Baylor falls 69-58 in home finale to No. 10 WVU
WACO, Texas (AP) — Rico Gathers had a scowl on his face while pacing the sideline after getting to the Baylor bench with just under 2 minutes remaining in his final home game for the 19th-ranked Bears.
Gathers, one of five Baylor seniors, had just fouled out in the Bears' 69-58 loss to No. 10 West Virginia on Saturday.
"For us to go out with an 'L' is really emotional especially when you're fouling out," Gathers said. "We've got to move past this point. The regular season is over with and now it's time to play for something bigger than just one game."
Baylor (21-10, 10-8 Big 12) will be the No. 5 seed in the conference tournament after losing its second game this week to a Top 10 team. The Bears, who lost at No. 6 Oklahoma on Tuesday night, play Texas in the Big 12 quarterfinals.
Taurean Prince, one of the other seniors, had 19 points and 10 rebounds. He had three 3-pointers, all coming in just over 2 minutes and part of a span when Baylor made five straight from beyond the arc after falling behind by 16 points.
"I thought we'd win there," Prince said. "We weren't able to get over that hump."
The Mountaineers (24-7, 13-5), who wrapped up second place in the league, led for 28 1-2 minutes after not scoring until more than 5 minutes into the game.
West Virginia had a much better start to the second half, extending a 32-27 halftime lead to double figures with a 9-2 run.
It was 41-29 after Jaysean Paige's 3-pointer 4:22 after the break, and the Mountaineers had stretched that to a 16-point lead after Paige's two free throws with 12 minutes left.
Ishmail Wainright then started Baylor's quick barrage of 3-pointers, and Lester Medford had another before Prince's big stretch.
The Bears got back within five points before Jevon Carter's layup with 5 minutes left put WVU up 57-50, and started a game-clinching 7-1 run during which Baylor missed two shots and was 1 of 4 on free throws.
Paige had 14 points for the Mountaineers, while Tarik Phillip had 11 and Daxter Miles Jr. 10. Devin Williams struggled from the field shooting 1 for 9, but had 11 rebounds, while Carter, a sophomore point guard, had eight points and eight assists with no turnovers.
Picked to finish sixth in a preseason vote by the Big 12 coaches, the Mountaineers instead go into the conference tournament as the No. 2 seed.
"They've got a great propensity to rally and keep competing," coach Bob Huggins said of his players "Their will to win is pretty good. ... They're very resilient and they love to play."
TAKE THE LID OFF
Both teams got off to horrendous starts, combining to go 0 for 9 with four turnovers before Gathers scored on a layup 3:46 into the game for a 2-0 Baylor lead. Baylor missed its first five shots, as did the Mountaineers until Nathan Adrian's tip-in that came 5:03 into the game and started an 8-0 run. The Bears started 1 of 11 and finished shooting 37 percent overall (19 of 52), while West Virginia got up to 46 percent (21 of 46) by the end of the game.
BETTER ON THE ROAD
Baylor finished 4-5 at home in the Big 12. The Bears are the only one of the league's top seven teams finishing with a losing record in conference home games, while matching No. 1 and league champion Kansas with a 6-3 road mark.
TIP-INS
West Virginia: The Mountaineers' 13 Big 12 wins and second-place finish were theirs bests in four seasons since moving into the league.
Baylor: Gathers fouled out with 1:52 left, with only five points and three rebounds in his final home game. The senior did have another buzzer-beating shot though, with a long basket with his foot on the 3-point line to beat the shot clock. In the Bears' previous home game vs. Baylor, the 6-foot-8 forward's only career 3-pointer came at the buzzer ending the first half. ... The Bears finished 14 of 24 on free throws.
UP NEXT
West Virginia: Plays Texas Tech or TCU in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament Thursday.
Baylor: Plays Texas the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament Thursday.