Mountaineers Upset No. 4 Baylor

Morgantown, WV – West Virginia forward Emmitt Matthews Jr led the Mountaineers with 18 points and freshman forward Oscar Tshiebwe tallied 16 points and 12 rebounds as the Mountaineers (21-10, 9-9) upset the fourth-ranked Baylor Bears 76-64. (26-4. 15-3)

Baylor’s defense forced six turnovers before West Virginia forward Oscar Tshiebwe put up the Mountaineers first points with a pair of free throws and Derek Culver used his patented turn around left-hander along the baseline for the team's first field goal and the Mountaineers were off and running.

Emmitt Matthews Jr hit back-to-back including a three to tie the game at nine at and Culver contorted his body underneath to grab the lead as West Virginia constructed a 19-2 run and held a 19-11 advantage at the 6:13 mark of the first half.

The Bears fought back and got within two, 24-22, behind Macio Teagues fight straight points to end the half.

Baylor started to impose their will on the Mountaineers as they built a seven-point lead just inside the first seven minutes of the second half, but West Virginia wouldn’t fold.

After an eight-point first-half performance, Emmitt Matthews Jr remained aggressive, driving down the baseline and finishing with a monster one-handed slam to cut into the deficit. Then, the bigs Oscar Tshiebwe and Derek Culver started getting the ball on the post as West Virginia was fighting their way back.

West Virginia reclaimed the lead following a steal from Jermaine Haley and he found Tshiebwe for the easy lay-in as the Mountaineers put together a 12-0 and pushed the advantage to seven, 49-42 with 5:33 remaining.

The Mountaineers finished 22-30 from the foul line the second half going and most importantly in the final minutes of the games to seal the win.