MBB Takes Down West Virginia in Morgantown, 83-78

Wednesday, January 11

Morgantown, W.Va.

6 PM

Baylor

11-5,1-3Big 12

West Virginia

10-6,0-4Big 12

Baylor

West Virginia

MBB Takes Down West Virginia in Morgantown, 83-78

1/11/2023 8:44:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – After spending three years at West Virginia, Jalen Bridges knew all too well how the fans boo an opposing player.
            "It just happened to be me tonight," the Baylor junior forward said in his first return to WVU Coliseum.
            Playing through that, Bridges recorded his third-career double-double and first at Baylor with 10 points and 11 rebounds to help the Bears snap a three-game losing streak with an 83-78 win over the Mountaineers Wednesday night.
            "I wouldn't say I ever go out and try to prove anything," Bridges said. "I know fully well what I'm capable of. I know my game better than anyone else because it's my game. I just go out there and compete and try to make winning plays and give my team a chance to win."
            One of those "winning plays" came with 1:16 left, when freshman Keyonte George saved a ball from going out of bounds off a missed 3-pointer by Adam Flagler and flipped it to Bridges for a layup that put the Bears (11-5, 1-3) up by six, 74-68.
            "We knew they were going to try to get in his head," said George, who hit five 3-pointers and scored a career-high 32 points, "but our main thing was just keep him level-headed. Play like yourself. . . . He went out there and played hard, did what he was supposed to do, and we were behind him. We went out there and fought and we were able to get a big road win."
            After back-to-back losses at home by a combined three points, Baylor was desperate to get any win. The Bears were trying to avoid their first 0-4 start in league play since 2005-06 when they played a conference-only schedule in coach Scott Drew's third season.
            "Two buzzer-beater losses keep you pretty well occupied," said Drew, whose team won for the fifth time in its last six trips to Morgantown. "We were more focused on trying to be in a position to compete and have a chance to win on the road. Obviously when we got here, everyone knew it was going to be tough on Jalen, and they wanted to have his back."
            Jumping out to a 10-2 lead in the first 6 ½ minutes, Baylor held West Virginia (10-6, 0-4) to 32% shooting overall (10-of-31) and 1-of-12 from 3-point range in the first half. The Mountaineers whittled the deficit to two before Flagler and George drained 3-pointers in the last 40 seconds to push the lead to 33-27 at the break.
            The Bears' defensive issues resurfaced in the second half, with West Virginia shooting a lights-out 58.3% from outside the arc (7-of-12) and taking its first lead, 49-48, on a pair of free throws by Kedrian Johnson with 11:41 left in the game.
            "One thing I do know is Coach (Bob) Huggins always does a great job mixing up stuff, getting his guys to play hard," Drew said. "We struggled guarding it in the second half. . . . We've got to do a better job defensively in the second half."
            There were seven more lead changes over the next nine minutes before Baylor went up for good, 67-66, on a pair of free throws by Flagler, who scored 13 of his 19 points in the second half.
            George buried a deep 3-pointer, then Bridges hit a pair of free throws after a steal to give the Bears the cushion they needed down the stretch. When Baylor missed one of two free throws on three-straight possessions, it left the door open, but Flagler sealed it with a pair of free throws after Joe Toussaint missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer.
            "We wanted that one and wanted to get that one for Jalen," Flagler said. "He did everything we needed him to do: played hard, flew around, rebounded the heck out of the ball. And we needed that in this environment."
            LJ Cryer added 13 points for Baylor, while Toussaint led the Mountaineers with 20. But it was George that carried the Bears' offensively, finishing six points shy of LaceDarius Dunn's freshman-record 38 points versus Texas Tech in 2008.
            "When he gets going . . . if he takes the right shots, he makes most of them," Drew said of George, who eclipsed the 20-point mark for the third-straight game and seventh time this season. "It was a special night by him, and he was very efficient. He didn't take many bad shots."
            Baylor will return home to host Oklahoma State (9-7, 1-3) at 5 p.m. Saturday at the Ferrell Center. The Cowboys have lost two in a row, falling to 11^th-ranked Kansas State, 65-57, Tuesday night in Manhattan.