WVU basketball: Mountaineers hold off Baylor down stretch

The WVU basketball team struggled mightily in the first half against Baylor on Tuesday at the WVU Coliseum. It looked like the Mountaineers would wilt under the pressure of the Bears.

Maybe there was also some added pressure as the WVU basketball team was coming off one of the best games of the college basketball season and a No. 2 national ranking. None of that mattered in the second half, though, as the Mountaineers buckled down and got things done.

The WVU basketball team pulled off a 57-54 victory after trailing by as many as nine points in the first half. The rally began late in the first half with the Mountaineers eventually knotting the game at 29 at halftime.

The offensive struggles could be attributed to a ramped up defense by the Bears, as well as just overall bad technique by the Mountaineers. After starting his Big 12 career on fire, Teddy Allen was held scoreless. The leading scorers for the WVU basketball team were Lamont West and Daxter Miles, who both scored 12.

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Jevon Carter was limited to eight points and he made a pair of 3-pointers. Sagaba Konate scored eight points with 12 rebounds and he also recorded seven blocks. As good as the Bears tried to disrupt the Mountaineers, the home team did a pretty good job of holding their own on the defensive end.

The WVU basketball team forced 21 turnovers and Carter created three steals. As poor of a shooting performance that Mountaineers had, they only turned the ball over 11 times so they are learning to protect it with their own high-flying defense on the other end.

The leading scorer for Baylor was Manu Lecomte. The talented guard had 13 points. Baylor’s big guy did indeed make things hard for the Mountaineers. Jo Lual-Acuil scored 11 points with 10 rebounds and recorded five blocks.

Next: All-time WVU basketball team

The WVU basketball team still has the nation’s longest winning streak at 15 games. That mark will be tested again on Saturday with a road trip to Texas Tech.