MORGANTOWN, W. Va. (AP) — Freshman Keyonte George scored a season-high 32 points to lead Baylor to an 83-78 victory over West Virginia on Wednesday night.
Baylor led by six at halftime and the lead changed eight times in the second half. George, who made 10 of 18 field goals with five 3-pointers, hit a 3-pointer with 2:09 left to put Baylor ahead 70-66.
Joe Toussaint hit a floater with 12 seconds left to pull West Virginia within 80-78. After George made one of two free throws, Toussaint missed an off-balance 3-pointer with 5 seconds left that would have given the Mountaineers the lead. Adam Flagler finished it off with two free throws for Baylor.
The teams combined for 54 free throws in the second half. Baylor made 28 of 36 for the game and West Virginia hit 24 of 33.
Baylor (11-5, 1-3 Big 12) broke a three-game losing streak. West Virginia (10-6, 0-4) has lost its first four conference games for the first time since losing five straight to start the 2018-19 conference schedule. West Virginia hasn’t made 50% of its field goals in five straight games.
Flagler scored 19 points and LJ Cryer had 13 for the Bears. The game marked the return of Jalen Bridges, a native of nearby Fairmont who played two seasons at West Virginia before transferring to Baylor. Bridges had 10 points and 11 rebounds.
Toussaint scored 20 points and Mitchell finished with 14 points and 15 rebounds for West Virginia. Wilson had 11 points and Kedrian Johnson 10.
George had 15 points and six rebounds in the first half, leading Baylor to a 33-27 halftime lead.
After a school record 65 straight weeks in the AP Top 25, the Bears played as an unranked team for the first time since March 23, 2019. The streak lasted a total of 1,161 days.
Baylor has a home game against Oklahoma State on Saturday. West Virginia plays at Oklahoma on Saturday.
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