Mountaineers topple No. 4 Baylor 76-64 in final home game of season

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — For 40 days and 40 nights the frustration had built within the West Virginia men’s basketball team.

Going back to that disastrous day in Manhattan, Kan., in mid-January, the Mountaineers’ journey through the desert saw them tumble out of a potential No. 2 seed for the NCAA tournament, lose any hope to claim a Big 12 regular-season title and fall out of the national rankings.

And then in one blink of an eye, the page was turned.

That came courtesy of a thunderous dunk from Miles McBride during Saturday’s 76-64 victory against No. 4 Baylor in front of an electrified 14,014 set of fans inside the WVU Coliseum.

“That was the icing on our cake, not only for today, but for our entire season,” said West Virginia guard Jermaine Haley, who was honored before the game on Senior Day along with teammates Chase Harler and Logan Routt. “Obviously, we’ve been struggling in our conference. I’m not going to say I knew it was going to happen this way. We did go through some rough times, especially after we got off to a sweet start, but that moment did make things feel a lot better.”

BOX SCORE

If McBride’s play was the icing, then the play of Emmitt Matthews Jr. was the ice cream, or something to that effect.

The sophomore forward pounded in 18 points that included a near-impossible bank shot along the baseline, along with his own two dunks that brought the crowd to its collective feet.

“He’s averaging three points in conference play, and he has 18,” Baylor coach Scott Drew said. “It wasn’t like we screwed up. His first shot was a bank shot and a tough shot. He made great plays.”

Oscar Tshiebwe added his own highlight-reel dunk in a game filled with athletic plays and a tenacious defense that blocked six shots. The WVU freshman finished with his 10th double-double of the season with 16 points and 12 rebounds.

West Virginia (21-10, 9-9 Big 12) wrapped up its regular season with its third victory against an AP Top 25 team for a school that played the second-hardest schedule in the country, according to NCAA figures.

The Mountaineers also wrapped up the No. 6 seed for next week’s Big 12 tournament in Kansas City, Mo. WVU finished in a four-way tie for third place with Oklahoma, Texas Tech and Texas.

The tiebreaker was determined by putting all four teams in a mini-conference and comparing the records against the other three tied teams.

Oklahoma, by virtue of sweeping the Mountaineers during the regular season and splitting with Texas and Texas Tech had the best record.

“Me, personally, I don’t care what seed we are,” Haley said. “We’re going to have to go beat somebody, regardless. Having that first-round bye will help tremendously.”

The Mountaineers will face Oklahoma at 9 p.m. Thursday in the quarterfinals. The winner of that game would likely set up a game against Baylor in the semifinals on Friday.

Baylor (26-4, 15-3), meanwhile, was denied a bid to win the Big 12 championship, even after starting conference play 13-0 and winning at Kansas’ Allen Fieldhouse.

“This really hurts,” Drew said. “I don’t think another team in the Big 12 has lost a conference championship with 15 wins, so it’s a first. We did what you normally would do to win a conference championship and we don’t have anything to show for it, so it sucks.”

McBride finished with 12 points and Sean McNeil added 11 points off the bench.

The Bears were led by Jared Butler’s 21 points, with 14 of them coming in the final 4:45. Davion Mitchell added 15.

They were not enough, though, in keeping the Mountaineers from capping off an interesting roller-coaster ride of a regular season with a triumphant finish.

“We had two of the best practices we’ve had in a very very long time,” WVU head coach Bob Huggins said. “They were enthusiastic. They had bounce in their step, so I thought we would play well.”

TWEET @bigjax3211

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

•