78

65

Box Score | Notes

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Foundation

ÃÆ'Æ'à € ' ¢ÃƒÆ'Æ' ¢' ¬ÃƒÆ'Æ' ¢ÃƒÆ' ¢' ¬ ¹KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Too bad West Virginia coach Bob Huggins isn't on the NCAA Tournament selection committee.

ÃÆ'Æ'à € ' ¢ÃƒÆ'Æ' ¢' ¬ÃƒÆ'Æ' ¢ÃƒÆ' ¢' ¬ ¹Even after his 18th-ranked Mountaineers (23-9) finished off a season series sweep with a 78-65 win over sixth-seeded Baylor (18-14) in Thursday's late quarterfinal at the Big 12 Championship, Huggins doesn't understand why the Bears and three other league teams are still "on the bubble."

ÃÆ'Æ'à € ' ¢ÃƒÆ'Æ' ¢' ¬ÃƒÆ'Æ' ¢ÃƒÆ' ¢' ¬ ¹"Why are they on the bubble?" Huggins said. "I don't understand why we would have four on the bubble. All year long, we have been the best conference in the country. . . . You put any of those other people in here that are so-called `bubble teams' and see what they do playing 18 games in this league."

ÃÆ'Æ'à € ' ¢ÃƒÆ'Æ' ¢' ¬ÃƒÆ'Æ' ¢ÃƒÆ' ¢' ¬ ¹ESPN's Joe Lunardi listed the Bears as a No. 11 seed going into Thursday's game, but dropped them all the way down to "next four out" after the loss to West Virginia.

ÃÆ'Æ'à € ' ¢ÃƒÆ'Æ' ¢' ¬ÃƒÆ'Æ' ¢ÃƒÆ' ¢' ¬ ¹With a chance to send a significant message to the selection committee, Baylor turned it over 22 times, shot just 42 percent from the field (22-of-50) and got outrebounded by the smaller Mountaineers, 37-31.

That was even with 6-8 sophomore center Sagabe Konate playing just 18 minutes with early foul trouble and finishing with two points, six rebounds and two blocks.

"When you get down double digits against West Virginia, it's hard to come back," said Baylor coach Scott Drew, whose team lost four of its last five games. "There are certain teams we match up better with, West Virginia is not one of them. We're glad if we never have to play them again this year."

Baylor actually controlled the first 12 minutes of the game, taking an 18-9 lead at the 8:46 mark of the first half on Nuni Omot's second 3-pointer. But, that was the Bears' last made field goal until freshman Tristan Clark's put-back dunk with three seconds left.

That would have given Baylor momentum going into the break, cutting the deficit to 26-23. But, the Mountaineers' Jevon Carter snatched it back when he buried a half-court, buzzer-beating shot to make it a six-point game.

"It gave us a little bit of momentum," said Carter, who finished with 18 points, 11 assists and six steals. "A dunk can change the game. I guess that 3-pointer just killed them right there. That's a big momentum-changer."

Drew said the game could have been "a lot different" if the half had ended on Clark's dunk instead of Carter's prayer. "When you're playing them, you don't need them hitting half-court shots. They're good enough without that."

Baylor's zone defense gave West Virginia fits early, with the Mountaineers hitting just four of their first 18 shots and 1-of-6 from beyond the arc.

"When we were getting stops, then we could get out in transition and not have to face the press," Drew said. "When they scored, they set up, and that wasn't good for us. . . . If we could go back and start the game right there from the eight-minute mark when we were up and play it again, I would love to do it. I don't think Coach Huggins will, though."

Able to turn up the heat with its stifling full-court press, West Virginia forced seven turnovers in the last eight minutes and outscored the Bears, 20-5, to take a 29-23 halftime lead.

"I think fatigue and frustration sets in, especially when you turn it over a lot," said senior forward Terry Maston, who finished with 11 points and five rebounds in just his second career start. "I'm glad we kept battling to the end. We just have to take care of the ball next time and just work a little harder in practice."

The Bears struck first in the second half, with Omot and Maston hitting back-to-back layups and getting back within 29-27.

West Virginia's answer was an 11-0 run that included three straight 3-pointers by Daxter Miles Jr., who was 5-of-5 from 3-point range in the second half and finished with 19 points.

"Once he gets hot, you've seen what he can do," said 6-8 junior forward Esa Ahmad, who was 8-of-13 from the field and finished with 21 points and eight rebounds.

Carter said when Miles is shooting like that, "it makes the game much easier for everybody else, because he's an unbelievable scorer. And when he gets hot, nobody's stopping him."

The remainder of the second half turned into a foul fest and free throw shooting contest, with West Virginia stretching its lead to 61-42 on a pair of Miles free throws with 7:02 left.

Manu Lecomte hit eight free throws, a jumper and back-to-back treys in a late scoring spree that got it down to a single-digit deficit, 74-65, with 42 seconds left. But, it was too little and too late.

"The coaches put up a great game plan, and I know we made a lot of mistakes," Lecomte said, "but I'm proud of my guys that we fought to the end."

Drew said he liked Huggins' assessment that Baylor should be in the NCAA Tournament for the fifth year in a row, but "coaches tend to worry."

"If I was on the committee, I agree with him and what (Huggins) said," Drew said. "But, we're not on the committee. Hopefully, the things they have asked us to do - play good teams, play good schedules not have bad losses - when you play top-25 teams, you rack up losses. In this league you do."

The NCAA Tournament selections will be announced at 5 p.m. Sunday on TBS, with a live stream also available at ncaa.com.

"I think we're good enough, but it doesn't matter now," Lecomte said. "We've just got to wait and see."