Ben Ludeman-USA TODAY Sports
Turnovers and Shooting Struggles Continue as Baylor Manhandles Mountaineers
Waco, TX – The No. 14 West Virginia Mountaineers (18-7, 6-6) dropped their third consecutive game following a 70-59 loss to the No. 1 Baylor Bears (23-1, 12-0) Saturday evening.
Despite Taz Sherman scoring a career-high 20-points, the Mountaineers shot 34.5% from the field and committed 22 turnovers while Baylor went 51.8% from the field to maintain a double-digit advantage throughout most of the game.
“They shot it extremely well, and we didn’t,” said West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins. “And we turn the ball over. I mean, we can’t continue to turn the ball over at the alarming rate that we turn the ball over and beat anybody any good.”
West Virginia started 2-9 from the field as the Bears built an early 15-5 lead and Derek Culver got it back within eight, contorting his body in the paint for a bucket before Baylor popped a 7-0 spurt capped off with a three from Jared Butler gave Baylor the 22-7 lead.
“We start the game, we got Derek down there trying to catch the ball and we stand down there and dribble it and look at him and dribble it and then dribble it away from him,” said Huggins. “We don’t pass the ball when the ball needs to be passed. And then, we just turn it over at an alarming rate.”
Butler buried his fourth three at the 3:41 mark as he went off for 16 first-half points putting Baylor up 19 but the Mountaineers ended the half on an 8-0 to get back within striking distance before the break. Butler finished the game leading all scorers with 21 points.
“I mean, we got it at 11 and we’ve got a chance coming out of halftime and we turn it over the first three times we have the ball,” said Huggins. “You can’t do that and win against the number one team ranked in the country.”
West Virginia nearly went the first 10 minutes of the second half without a field goal before Oscar Tshiebwe ended the drought banking it from the right side ending a 20-3 run as Baylor held a 53-27 lead with 10:14 remaining in the game.
Baylor maintained a 20-point advantage until 3:15 remaining when West Virginia finished the game outscoring the Bears 11-1.
“If there’s a positive most of our guys continue to play, continue to fight it,” said Huggins. “We did some things, or the game could have been closer. Could have got it a little bit more manageable, but we can’t keep throwing them the ball.”
West Virginia has another quick turnaround as they host the Oklahoma State Cowboys Tuesday at 7:00 pm inside the WVU Coliseum.
