West Virginia Gift Wraps A Win For Baylor With Late Mental Error

A late mental collapse by West Virginia (10-17, 2-12 Big 12) allowed the Baylor Bears (18-9, 9-5 Big 12) to steal momentum away from the Mountaineers, derailing what looked to be an upset in Waco.

With 2:06 remaining in the game and West Virginia down 71-70 with the ball, Bob Huggins called a timeout to substitute Derek Culver and Chase Harler in for Logan Routt and Andrew Gordon. Only Gordon appeared to have not got the memo and remained on the court, causing the Mountaineers to get assessed a technical foul for having six men on the court. In all honesty, it was the perfect metaphor for what has been an absolute adventure of a basketball season for West Virginia.

Prior to the technical, the Mountaineers had led the game for a total of 29:39 seconds, and led by as much as seven points in the second half. Baylor quickly took advantage on the mental mistake, and went on an 11-2 run to close the game out by a final score of 82-75.

Lamont West led West Virginia with 16 points. Jordan McCabe finished with 14 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists in 38 minutes, starting in place of the sidelined Brandon Knapper. Jermaine Haley and Andrew Gordon had 13 points each, with Haley adding 7 rebounds. Derek Culver, who spent a significant amount of time on the bench in foul trouble, finished with 9 points 6 rebounds.

West Virginia is back in action in Morgantown on Tuesday, when they welcome in Jamie Dixon and his TCU Horned Frogs. That game is scheduled for a 7:00PM EST tip and will be broadcast on ESPNU.