West Virginia-Baylor Preview

Link copied!

WACO, Texas -- West Virginia and Baylor have at least one thing in common.

Both schools are playing out a Big 12 regular season with some level of disappointment that they weren't able to stop Kansas from winning the conference yet again.

The No. 10 Mountaineers and No. 11 Bears each took a turn at looking like a potential Big 12 champion.

Baylor (23-6, 10-6 Big 12) reached the No. 1 ranking for the first time in school history in January.

West Virginia (23-6, 11-5) had Kansas on the ropes in Lawrence, Kan., two weeks ago, leading by seven with a minute to play. But the Jayhawks prevailed in overtime and they have since clinched the conference championship for the 13th consecutive season.

So the Bears host the Mountaineers in a game that could affect seeding in the Big 12 Tournament. Other than that, though, there's not much at stake.

The best thing about Monday's contest is it's a good warm-up for the NCAA Tournament as both teams have the potential to play a long way into March.

West Virginia enters Monday's game having won five of six, with the only loss coming in overtime at top-ranked Kansas.

The Mountaineers survived a typical 2017 Big 12 clash versus TCU on Saturday when Daxter Miles Jr. nailed a free throw with five seconds left to lift West Virginia to a 61-60 victory.

Meanwhile, Baylor is limping to the finish line of the regular season.

The Bears have lost five of eight and, though they are 5-3 against top 25 opponents this season, they haven't defeated a ranked foe since defeating then-No. 25 Kansas State on Jan. 14.

A rash of ankle injuries have slowed down Baylor. Most notably, point guard Manu Lecomte has been nursing a sprained ankle for the past three games and sat out all but two minutes of the second half in Baylor's loss at Iowa State on Saturday.

It doesn't seem likely that Lecomte will play versus West Virginia.

"We'll wait and see at game time," Baylor coach Scott Drew said. "He reinjured that ankle at the beginning of the second half at Iowa State. He wasn't good at the beginning of the game either."

Facing West Virginia, recently nicknamed "Press Virginia," is a bad time for a team to be without its primary ball handler.

The Mountaineers forced Baylor into 29 turnovers in their first meeting this season in Morgantown, W. Va.

But that was nothing new for West Virginia, which harasses most of its opponents into mistakes. TCU committed 21 turnovers on its home court against the Mountaineers on Saturday.

"Is there a tougher team to play on a one-day prep?" Drew asked with a laugh during his Sunday pregame press conference. "But the good thing is you know what they're going to do. We've played them once, so hopefully we have a better feel for that."

On the other bench, West Virginia will have to find a way to contend with Baylor's length inside.

Bears forward Johnathan Motley is averaging 17.3 points and 9.8 rebounds and Baylor blocked 10 shots in a win at home over Oklahoma last week.