No. 9 Bears Beatdown Mountaineers

Ninth-ranked Baylor manhandles West Virginia

Waco, TX - Baylor guard LJ Cryer went 8-11 from three-point range for 26 points and lead the Bears (20-6, 9-4) over West Virginia, 79-67 on Monday night. 

West Virginia and Baylor combined to shoot 2-12 from the field heading into the first media timeout of the game, with the Mountaineers holding a 4-3 edge over the Bears. 

The Mountaineers (15-11, 4-9) stretched their lead to 9-3 after a Tre Mitchell dunk and an Emmitt Matthews Jr. three following consecutive WVU steals. 

A lob and lay-in to forward James Okonkwo put the Mountaineers up seven, 16-9, but Baylor strung together an 11-2 run capped off by a three by former WVU forward, Jalen Bridges, to reclaim the Baylor lead 20-18, forcing a WVU timeout with just over eight minutes remaining in the first half. 

West Virginia went nearly nine minutes without a field goal but while the Bears built a seven-point advantage before Seth Wilson buried a three, ending a streak of 11 missed field goals to get the Mountaineers back within four, 31-27, with 2:47 left to play in the half. 

Baylor guard LJ Cryer popped a three to lead all scorers with 11 points and gave the Bears a seven-point lead at the break 36-29.

Feb 13, 2023; Waco, Texas, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers forward Emmitt Matthews Jr. (1) works past Baylor Bears forward Jalen Bridges (11) during the first half at Ferrell Center / Raymond Carlin III-USA TODAY Sports

Cryer opened the second half with back-to-back threes, but sandwiched in-between was an offensive putback by Matthews Jr. before Mitchell buried a three to keep WVU within seven at the 17:18 mark of the second half. 

Cryer accounted for four three-pointers within the first six minutes of the second half and Flager followed with another as the Bears expanded their lead. 55-39, and forcing West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins to take a timeout down 16 with 13:43 left in the game. 

West Virginia guard Joe Toussaint cut the deficit to 12 after a three but Langston Love answered. However, Toussaint, again, hit a three and drew the foul to get the Mountaineers within 11, 69-58 with 5:24 left to play. 

Baylor continued its onslaught from the outside with eight second half threes to improve to 14-17 on the night as the Bears eased to a 79-67 victory. 

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