Baylor Earns Late Victory over West Virginia in Big 12 Tournament

The Baylor Bears pulled away late on Thursday in Kansas City, besting the 18th-ranked West Virginia Mountaineers 80-70 in a game that was far closer than the final score indicated. The Bears, ranked 16th nationally, advanced to play the winner of Kansas-TCU in the Big 12 tournament semifinals.

"

"No. 16 Baylor Beats No. 18 WVU 80-70 in Big 12 Tourney" by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS via NYT http://t.co/xumlBUXkHL

— Frank Dance (@FrankDance1988) March 12, 2015"

Both teams are almost certainly NCAA tournament-bound, and Thursday’s game was primarily for seeding reasons. With the loss, West Virginia appears headed for a fifth or sixth seed in the Big Dance. If Baylor can win the Big 12 tournament outright, they could potentially earn a No. 2 seed (particularly if they beat Kansas in the process).

Most pundits anticipated a close game, although much of the pregame conversation revolved around West Virginia’s Juwan Staten, the team’s leader in minutes, scoring and assists. Staten missed the team’s final three games with a groin injury, and his status entering the game was uncertain. 

The Mountaineers clearly missed Staten. The All-Big 12 senior guard combines efficient consistency with the occasional highlight-reel play. 

Perhaps most importantly, Staten—one of West Virginia’s primary ball-handlers—rarely turns the ball over. His ball-handling skills, which often embarrass opposing defenders, were sorely missed in Thursday’s game, as the Mountaineers finished with 14 turnovers.

On Thursday, neither team led by more than six points until the game’s final three minutes. The Bears led by two at halftime, behind strong first-half performances from Lester Medford and Taurean Prince, who led the Bears with 18 points. 

With nine minutes and 27 seconds remaining in the half, Baylor’s Rico Gathers drew a foul and threw down this statement dunk, off of a nice bounce pass from Royce O’Neale:

The teams traded baskets for most of the second half, until Medford’s layup with 3:19 remaining in the game put the Bears up by five. Gathers knocked down a pair of free throws to extend the lead to seven, and the Mountaineers never got closer.

After the game, several fans expressed their frustration with the referees on Twitter. Baylor shot 34 free throws, a staggering 16 more than the Mountaineers, and scored 26 points at the line.

O’Neale credited Baylor's experience as critical to its success, as per the Associated Press (h/t USA Today):

“[It] starts with me and Kenny [Chery] being seniors,” he said. “We had to keep everybody poised...we had to steady it as a team.”

That experience will undoubtedly prove vital in the high-pressure situations common to NCAA tournament games.