Explosive Second Half Lifts West Virginia Over Baylor In Big 12 Quarterfinal

The #3 seeded West Virginia Mountaineers are moving on to the Big 12 Conference tournament semifinals after an explosive second half performance against the #6 seed Baylor Bears tonight in Kansas City, Missouri, final score 78-65.

West Virginia struggled to get any offense going through the first 12 minutes of the first half, allowing the Bears to open up a 18-9 lead. The Mountaineers managed to come alive after a huge three from Jevon Carter just inside the seven minute mark cut Baylor’s lead to five. The Mountaineers would proceed to go on a 20-5 run over the final eight minutes of the half, including a ridiculous half-court buzzer beater from Carter, to take a 29-23 lead into the locker room.

The second half belonged to the Mountaineers and, more specifically, Jevon Carter, Daxter Miles Jr. and Esa Ahmad. Miles ignited for 17 second half points, going 5-for-5 from beyond the arc to completely deflate the Baylor squad.

Esa Ahmad led the Mountaineers with 21 points, 8 rebounds. Miles finished with 19 points, 6 rebounds. Carter added 18 points, 11 assists. Sagaba Konate finished with just 2 points, 6 rebounds and 2 blocks after early foul trouble forced him to sit for a significant amount of time.

West Virginia will take on the #2 seeded Texas Tech Red Raiders on Friday in the semifinal round. That game will tip-off at 9:00PM and will, once again, be televised on ESPN2.