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WVU men crack late at Baylor

Bears finish the game on a 30-13 run in win

WACO, Texas (AP) — Johnathan Motley scored 19 of his 23 points after halftime and 11th-ranked Baylor won its home finale 71-62 over 10th-ranked West Virginia on Monday night.

The Bears (24-6, 11-6 Big 12) avenged a 21-point loss at West Virginia on Jan. 10, which came after Baylor had won its first 15 games and reached No. 1 in the AP Top 25 for the first time in school history.

Jo Lual-Acuil added 11 points and 10 rebounds for Baylor, which ended the game with a 30-13 run over the final 9 minutes. Al Freeman had 12 with a pair of 3-pointers in the closing stretch.

Jevon Carter had 18 points and nine rebounds for West Virginia (23-7, 11-6).

The Mountaineers led 49-41 when Carter made a jumper with 9:04 left, and didn’t score again until Carter’s nifty basket 3 minutes later when he drove, stopped, twisted and then scored with a short jumper. That put them ahead for the last time.

Between those Carter baskets, Baylor scored nine points in a row for its first lead of the second half. Motley had seven of those, including a two-handed slam that became a three-point play after he was fouled and another tough inside basket. Lual-Acuil converted a miss by Motley into a touch inside basket.

When Carter finally scored again put WVU up 51-50, Lual-Acuil had another inside basket before Ishmail Wainwright, the lone Baylor senior playing his final home game, had a steal and breakaway layup.

Tarik Phillip had 12 points and Elijah Macon 11 for the Mountaineers.

BIG PICTURE

West Virginia: The Mountaineers lost for only the second time in a seven-game stretch when its only other loss was in overtime at top-ranked Kansas.

Baylor: The Bears managed to survive the WVU press even without starting point guard Manu Lecomte, who missed the game with a sprained ankle. Baylor did have 18 turnovers — 11 fewer than the January game — which the Mountaineers turned into 20 points. They can still finish second in the Big 12.

UP NEXT

West Virginia: Plays regular-season finale at home Friday night against No. 24 Iowa State.

Baylor: Ends regular season on the road against Texas on Saturday.

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