By Wendell Barnhouse
Big12Sports.com Correspondent
WACO, Texas – Two more “had nevers” have been crossed off the list. Before Saturday, Baylor had never won consecutive games against ranked teams and had never defeated six ranked teams in a season.
When you win 10 of your first 16 games in the ultra-competitive Big 12 Conference, the odds of winning back-to-back games against top 25 teams improve. There have been 26 league games matching ranked teams. With over half the teams in the Big 12 having been ranked and with the round-robin schedule avoiding a ranked team is like listening to Top 40 radio and not hearing Taylor Swift’s latest remake of her last hit.
No. 19/20 Baylor notched a controlled-from-the-start 78-66 victory over No. 20/19 West Virginia before an Everyone In Black crowd of 9,385 at the Ferrell Center. The Bears are tied with the Mountaineers and Iowa State for third place in the Big 12 standings.
“Winning helps you sleep at night,” said Baylor coach Scott Drew, who apparently is far from sleep deprived lately. “You can play well in this league and not win. It’s hard to win in this league, it’s tough to put a winning streak together.
“We’re playing good basketball and making shots. We’re controlling what we can control – shot selection and taking care of the ball.”
The Bears (22-7, 10-6) won at No. 12 Iowa State Wednesday night. The Mountaineers (22-7, 10-6) had won three in a row. Baylor has won four in a row heading into Monday night’s game at Texas.
West Virginia senior guard Juwan Staten was not in uniform because of groin and knee injuries. And less than three minutes into the game, senior guard Gary Browne suffered a left leg injury when he and Baylor’s 275-pound Rico Gathers were on the floor pursuing a loose ball.
Gathers’ loose ball dive that sidelined Browne was one of four hustle plays the double-double machine (17 points and 10 rebounds Saturday) that led to baskets for his teammates. In the first half, 50-50 balls belonged 100 percent to Baylor.
"Well if we would have dove on the first one Gary probably wouldn't have gotten hurt,” West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said. “Instead of just trying to run and pick it up, if we would have just dove on it. Which is what we have been doing, our ball security wasn't very good and we just didn't get the balls the way we normally get the balls."
The absence of those Staten and Browne was double trouble for the Mountaineers. Their pressure defense failed to fluster the Bears.
“To have eight turnovers against this team and to have 18 assists on 24 baskets … that’s excellent team basketball and a great job of taking care of the ball,” Drew said. “We made a lot of unselfish plays.”
For most of the game, West Virginia relied on freshmen guards Jevon Carter and Daxter Miles Jr. who combined for 36 points. Carter was 7-of-13 on 3-pointers but committed five of his team’s 13 turnovers.
"We had nine turnovers in the first half and most of them were live ball turnovers. That killed us. That killed us in the first half," said Huggins, whose team headed to Kansas City for Tuesday’s game at Kansas. "You can't make live ball turnovers. We just had guys who hadn't been out there really by themselves. And it's hard to make any adjustments."
Baylor, which has made 22 of 41 3-pointers in the last two games, shot 65.4 percent in the first half and led by as many as 19 points. One play foreshadowed two key plays in the first half. Royce O’Neale made a 3-pointer with 5:42 to play after Al Freeman passed to Kenny Chery in the corner who snapped a pass to O’Neale. Chery raised his arms before O’Neale’s shot left his hand.
The Mountaineers closed to within nine points midway through the second half. Taurean Prince’s 3-pointer, off a pass from O’Neale, beat the shot clock for a 14-point lead and two possessions later Freeman’s pass found O’Neale on the left wing for a three. Prince had 20 points and O’Neale had 18 and seven assists; they combined to make 8-of-12 3-pointers.
“Everyone on this team is unselfish,” O’Neale said. “In practice we always look for one more pass. If you call one more and we pass it we know (whoever is shooting) will make the shot. We trust each other so that's why we pass it. Sharing the ball is key.”