Baylor Holds off WVU Basketball to Win in Overtime

WVU basketball continued its late-season slide, losing 74-71 in overtime at Baylor Saturday afternoon.

The Mountaineers (15-10, 6-8 Big 12) have now lost six of their last seven games. Baylor (16-9, 8-6) has alternated wins and losses over its last six games as the Bears try to strengthen their tournament resume.

Initial action saw the teams deadlocked 10-10 after six minutes of play. Toby Okani made two three-pointers during that opening in a half where the Mountaineers struggled mightily from deep.

Okani hit two of WVU’s first four three-point attempts. The team missed 12 of its next 13 shots from range before halftime as the Mountaineers had yet to figure out Baylor’s zone defense. Javon Small’s trey at 5:10 was the only exception, re-tying the game at 21-21.

Fortunately for the Mountaineers, Baylor was also struggling to connect from deep. Playing with a smaller lineup following a season-ending injury to forward Joshua Ojinwuna, the Bears started 2-4 on threes before finishing the first half 1-8.

A 9-0 run had Baylor flirting with a double-digit halftime lead, but Small scored twice in the final 40 seconds of the half to make it a 30-25 game at the break.

After their first-half struggles, the Mountaineers came out of halftime firing on all cylinders offensively. WVU made six of its first seven shots in the second half, including its first three triples. 

West Virginia found success attacking the pain after halftime, opening up kick-out opportunities for Okani, Jonathan Powell and Sencire Harris to all connect from deep. WVU went on a 14-2 run at the beginning of the second half to rocket out to a 39-34 lead.

As quickly as WVU’s offensive success came, it disappeared just as fast as Baylor ramped up its ball pressure, leading to four WVU turnovers in a five-minute span. After the Mountaineers went up by five, the Bears went on a 12-2 run to flip the advantage, 46-41.

Baylor’s lead only got as high as six points, 52-46, before the Mountaineers put together another run. Joeseph Yesufuf and Small hit back-to-back threes as part of an 8-0 run that put the Mountaineers back on top, 54-52, with six minutes left.

The lead changed hands four more times over the next six minutes until Amani Hansberry pulled down a defensive rebound and was fouled with 30 seconds left and Baylor leading by two. Hansberry sank both free throws to tie the game 65-65 in the final minute. Rob Wright missed Baylor’s final shot and Powell’s half-court heave just missed at the buzzer as the teams went into overtime.

Defenses ruled the overtime period as the teams combined to miss the first nine shots of the period. Baylor went to the line four times to lead 69-65 before Hansberry made the first field goal, a layup, to get WVU on the board.

Four more Baylor free throws and a layup by Small set up WVU trailing by two with 40 seconds left. Jonathan Powell got a wide-open look in the corner, but his would-be go-ahead trey banged off the front of the rim. Baylor made 9-of-12 free throws in overtime to win despite not making a field goal in the extra period.

Small led the WVU basketball with 22 points to go with six assists. Okani finished with 19 and seven rebounds. They were the only two Mountaineers to make multiple three-pointers in the game.

Langston Love and Norchad Omier scored 17 apiece to pace the Bears. Omier’s 10 rebounds led all players as Love went 12-of-12 from the free throw line. Wright finished with 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting.

Baylor struggled from deep just as much as WVU did, shooting 5-22 on threes to the Mountaineers’ 8–of-31.

WVU basketball returns to Morgantown to host Cincinnati Wednesday at 7 p.m.