--That’s basketball for you. After giving away another double-digit second half lead at Kansas, West Virginia goes on the road to a place they’ve struggled at times in the past against the hottest team in the league after Baylor had won five straight and dominates this game. There were a few interesting moments in the second half, but the Mountaineers were never seriously challenged leading by double-digits the entire second half while putting together a strong effort to get them there in the first half. There were questions if this team could bounce back again and we absolutely received that answer tonight as the Mountaineers led for 38:38 in this game and only trailed 47 seconds on the two-day turnaround. The first half of this game was a testament to just how good this team can be when it’s playing with effort and focus on both ends of the floor for 20-minutes. But the challenge is now and has been, doing it for a full 40-minutes because at times in the second half it was clear that wasn’t the case and the Mountaineers were able to get by because they had already built such a commanding lead. The Mountaineers had gone five minutes without scoring in the second half allowing Baylor to use a 16-2 run and couldn’t get out of their own way at times not even getting shot attempts up because they were sloppy with the ball. It needs to be mentioned that they did survive this second half drought but that can’t continue to happen. West Virginia is the type of team that could win it all or go out on the first weekend and at times it’s hard to decide from half to half which club this is. Still, this is a quality win against a team that had just beaten the top two teams in the league over the last week.
--That win also was important for seeding because while outright winning the league is all but out of reach, West Virginia now holds the tiebreakers over Baylor and Kansas State. The Mountaineers also recorded their 20th win of the season the fourth consecutive time they’ve reached that mark. With three regular season games left, West Virginia has an opportunity to move up when it comes to seeding.
--Perhaps one of the better defensive efforts for West Virginia at times this season. The Mountaineers held Baylor to 33-percent from the floor when they average 47-percent for the season and consistently made things difficult in the paint. In total the 13 blocks that West Virginia as a team finished with is second most all-time and is one off the all-time mark set by the 1982 team. West Virginia held Baylor to 60 points on 67 possessions or .896 points per possession.
--Speaking of records, sophomore Sagaba Konate is now tied with D’Or Fischer as the all-time leader in blocked shots for a single game with nine. Konate was everywhere and clearly affected Baylor players taking the ball up in the post. He isn’t just blocking shots he is destroying the ball at times and West Virginia hasn’t had a rim protector like him in a long, long time. He now has 91 blocks on the season, second place all-time behind Fischer who blocked 124 shots in the 2004 season that’s a lot of ground to make up but he’s in the hunt. He also finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds in this one. He had almost 30-percent of the team’s rebounds in this one but has to get his temper under control at times.
--On the offensive end, West Virginia moved to the basketball as well as it’s done in recent games with assists on 15 of the 23 made baskets and getting quality looks especially in the first half. Again, the Mountaineers shot over 50-percent in the opening frame 15-28 and had 9 assists on those baskets.
--West Virginia forced 12 turnovers in the first half, four more than they forced for the entire game against Kansas, and at one point in that frame had more points off turnovers than Baylor did all-together. The Mountaineers were active on the defensive end in that half but things calmed down in the second as Baylor had only a pair of turnovers. Still the Mountaineers got 22 points off those mistakes.
--One play doesn’t define a game but the three-pointer that senior Daxter Miles made, his only one of the game, through the foul when Baylor had cut the 28-point lead to 55-43 was the biggest of the night. Miles drained the three-ball, made the free throw and pushed the advantage back out to 16-points and the Bears would never be able to recover. Miles didn’t shoot the ball as well in this one going 3-10 from the floor with 10 points but he continues to do everything else. He plays great on the defensive end and rebounds the ball and West Virginia just isn’t the same team without him.
--Saturday was bad junior forward Esa Ahmad, Tuesday was the good version. After being incredibly passive and a non-factor at Kansas, Ahmad played one of his better games since returning tonight with 15 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and a block. He was aggressive trying to get to the basket and look for his shot while he also seemed to be locked in and active on the defensive end. That is my eyeball test.
--Senior guard Jevon Carter did Jevon Carter things with 15 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and a block. He needs exactly one more assist to be the first power five player to have 1,500 points, 500 assists, 500 rebounds and 300 steals in a career.
--I’m going to say it, if there was any doubt left. This is a good free throw shooting team. West Virginia made 18-22 in this one from the line and continues to be the best team in school history in that department shooting over 77-percent.
--This doesn’t happen often when West Virginia wins convincingly but the Mountaineers bench was actually outscored 15-23 in this one.
--Once again although foul trouble limited his minutes to only 15, redshirt sophomore Wesley Harris played well for West Virginia with six points on 3-4 from the field. He was a team high +16.
--The ebbs and flows of redshirt sophomore Lamont West has been puzzling at times. When he is confident and shooting the ball well, West Virginia is simply a better team. It seems at times he gets too concerned over if a couple of his shots fall and it affects the rest of his game. I do think he seemed to play through that better tonight although he only hit 1-5 shots and scored 2 points, but the Mountaineers are going to need to see more consistent play out of him moving forward.
--Same can be said with freshman Teddy Allen at times as he played 14 minutes but scored only 3 points and was the only player on the team – in the +/- department. Since his mini-suspension, this is the lowest output he’s had when seeing at least 10-minutes.
--West Virginia was -4 in the rebounding department, -9 in offensive rebounds, -8 in second chance points, even in points in the paint (28-all) and was actually -5 in shots attempted but still managed to win convincingly.
--Baylor forward Terry Maston came into the game scoring 50 points over his last two games going 22-36 from the field, but managed only 5 points on 2-9 from the floor.
--West Virginia will now head home for an opportunity for some revenge against an Iowa State team that embarrassed the Mountaineers in their first meeting in Ames. Safe to say that West Virginia should have every reason to want to come out fired up for this game.
--That win also was important for seeding because while outright winning the league is all but out of reach, West Virginia now holds the tiebreakers over Baylor and Kansas State. The Mountaineers also recorded their 20th win of the season the fourth consecutive time they’ve reached that mark. With three regular season games left, West Virginia has an opportunity to move up when it comes to seeding.
--Perhaps one of the better defensive efforts for West Virginia at times this season. The Mountaineers held Baylor to 33-percent from the floor when they average 47-percent for the season and consistently made things difficult in the paint. In total the 13 blocks that West Virginia as a team finished with is second most all-time and is one off the all-time mark set by the 1982 team. West Virginia held Baylor to 60 points on 67 possessions or .896 points per possession.
--Speaking of records, sophomore Sagaba Konate is now tied with D’Or Fischer as the all-time leader in blocked shots for a single game with nine. Konate was everywhere and clearly affected Baylor players taking the ball up in the post. He isn’t just blocking shots he is destroying the ball at times and West Virginia hasn’t had a rim protector like him in a long, long time. He now has 91 blocks on the season, second place all-time behind Fischer who blocked 124 shots in the 2004 season that’s a lot of ground to make up but he’s in the hunt. He also finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds in this one. He had almost 30-percent of the team’s rebounds in this one but has to get his temper under control at times.
--On the offensive end, West Virginia moved to the basketball as well as it’s done in recent games with assists on 15 of the 23 made baskets and getting quality looks especially in the first half. Again, the Mountaineers shot over 50-percent in the opening frame 15-28 and had 9 assists on those baskets.
--West Virginia forced 12 turnovers in the first half, four more than they forced for the entire game against Kansas, and at one point in that frame had more points off turnovers than Baylor did all-together. The Mountaineers were active on the defensive end in that half but things calmed down in the second as Baylor had only a pair of turnovers. Still the Mountaineers got 22 points off those mistakes.
--One play doesn’t define a game but the three-pointer that senior Daxter Miles made, his only one of the game, through the foul when Baylor had cut the 28-point lead to 55-43 was the biggest of the night. Miles drained the three-ball, made the free throw and pushed the advantage back out to 16-points and the Bears would never be able to recover. Miles didn’t shoot the ball as well in this one going 3-10 from the floor with 10 points but he continues to do everything else. He plays great on the defensive end and rebounds the ball and West Virginia just isn’t the same team without him.
--Saturday was bad junior forward Esa Ahmad, Tuesday was the good version. After being incredibly passive and a non-factor at Kansas, Ahmad played one of his better games since returning tonight with 15 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and a block. He was aggressive trying to get to the basket and look for his shot while he also seemed to be locked in and active on the defensive end. That is my eyeball test.
--Senior guard Jevon Carter did Jevon Carter things with 15 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and a block. He needs exactly one more assist to be the first power five player to have 1,500 points, 500 assists, 500 rebounds and 300 steals in a career.
--I’m going to say it, if there was any doubt left. This is a good free throw shooting team. West Virginia made 18-22 in this one from the line and continues to be the best team in school history in that department shooting over 77-percent.
--This doesn’t happen often when West Virginia wins convincingly but the Mountaineers bench was actually outscored 15-23 in this one.
--Once again although foul trouble limited his minutes to only 15, redshirt sophomore Wesley Harris played well for West Virginia with six points on 3-4 from the field. He was a team high +16.
--The ebbs and flows of redshirt sophomore Lamont West has been puzzling at times. When he is confident and shooting the ball well, West Virginia is simply a better team. It seems at times he gets too concerned over if a couple of his shots fall and it affects the rest of his game. I do think he seemed to play through that better tonight although he only hit 1-5 shots and scored 2 points, but the Mountaineers are going to need to see more consistent play out of him moving forward.
--Same can be said with freshman Teddy Allen at times as he played 14 minutes but scored only 3 points and was the only player on the team – in the +/- department. Since his mini-suspension, this is the lowest output he’s had when seeing at least 10-minutes.
--West Virginia was -4 in the rebounding department, -9 in offensive rebounds, -8 in second chance points, even in points in the paint (28-all) and was actually -5 in shots attempted but still managed to win convincingly.
--Baylor forward Terry Maston came into the game scoring 50 points over his last two games going 22-36 from the field, but managed only 5 points on 2-9 from the floor.
--West Virginia will now head home for an opportunity for some revenge against an Iowa State team that embarrassed the Mountaineers in their first meeting in Ames. Safe to say that West Virginia should have every reason to want to come out fired up for this game.
