MORGANTOWN, W. Va. — Derek Culver was limited to just three shots Tuesday, as No. 6 West Virginia fell to No. 3 Baylor, 94-89, in overtime at the WVU Coliseum.
He had no baskets, just the second time that’s happened to the 6-foot-10 forward in his college career, and Culver didn’t attempt a single shot in the overtime period.
“Derek is obviously a double-double machine and Baylor knew that going in,” WVU guard Sean McNeil said. “They wanted to be as aggressive as they could be against him. I don’t know how many touches he had, but I’m sure when he got the ball, they doubled him.
“That’s something I didn’t realize (Culver had just three shots). We’ve definitely got to get him the ball more, because he’s a huge part of our momentum.”
Culver still finished with nine points and nine rebounds, but WVU head coach Bob Huggins said Baylor’s guards made it difficult for WVU’s guards to throw the ball inside.
“He chased the ball too much. He chased the ball because he wasn’t getting it when they put really good ball pressure on our guys,”Huggins said. “Our guys are fighting the ball pressure, and when they’re fighting the ball pressure, they’re not looking to throw it to Derek. So, Derek chases it, which is human nature.”
Fighting for second
The loss moved West Virginia (17-7, 10-5 Big 12) into a tie with Kansas for second place in the Big 12, while Baylor secured its first conference championship since 1950.
In order to remain in second and earn the No. 2 seed in the Big 12 tournament, the Mountaineers must sweep their final two home games of the season against TCU on Thursday and Oklahoma State on Saturday.
WVU could fall as far as sixth place in the standings by getting swept or even by splitting the final two games, depending on how Oklahoma State, Texas and Oklahoma do in its remaining games.
Kansas has already played its 18 league games.
Baylor for 3
Baylor made 13 of 31 from 3-point range and the 13 3s were the third-most made against the Mountaineers this season.
The Bears were 7 of 13 (54%) from behind the arc in the second half and overtime.
“They have really good guards with (MaCio) Teague and (Jared) Butler and (Davion) Mitchell in their lineup,” McNeil said. “They’re extremely talented and they shoot so unexpectedly and so quick. It was tough to contest, as you could see. They’re just a good all-around team. They know how to score the ball and they move the ball and they have unselfish guys who make the right play.”
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