By Wendell Barnhouse
Big12Sports.com Correspondent
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – All four the higher seeded teams in the quarterfinals of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Men’s Championship were testing the theory that it’s difficult to beat the same team three times in a season.
Baylor proved it can be done but that’s not easy.
The fourth-seeded Bears advanced to the semifinals for the fifth time in the last seven years with an 80-70 victory over No. 5 seed West Virginia (23-9). Baylor beat the Mountaineers twice in the regular season by margins of 18 (in Morgantown) and 12 (in Waco). The final margin was not an indication of how tight and competitive the game was.
"The first two times, it was pretty - those were tough games, too,” said Baylor’s Taurean Prince, who came off the bench to score 18. “We just kind of caught a run at the end, the very end. They're a tough team, they play very hard, tough team to outrebound, but we did what we needed to do tonight."
Prince, playing with four fouls, was involved in a key play down the stretch that helped tilt the outcome in the Bears’ favor.
Baylor was clinging to a 67-66 lead when Prince made a steal. On his way to the basket, Prince fumbled the ball but then got it to Rico Gathers, who dunked it with 3:48 remaining. The Bears’ Lester Medford followed with a steal and a manly finish to provide a 71-66 lead with 3:16 to play.
West Virginia’s hot shooting, which had kept it in the game, faded over the past 10 minutes. The Mountaineers made 9-of-17 from 3-point range before missing their last seven from beyond the arc. The missed nine of their last 10 shots.
"We didn't finish around the rim the way we need to finish around the rim," West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said. "They made some key shots and we didn't"
West Virginia played again without senior guards Juwan Staten (knee, groin injuries) and Gary Browne (sprained ankle). With the backcourt depth limited, the Mountaineers didn’t use as much full-court pressure as it usually does.
"We kind of backed it off," Huggins said. "We were trying to guard `em and we didn't guard `em very well, but we were trying to guard `em better and not turn `em loose."
West Virginia, even without its senior guards, had 19 assists on 24 field goals. In the second half, Baylor also was in a giving mood with 10 assists on their 12 baskets.
“We're all unselfish guys, we love playing with each other because we're always going to find the open person,” said the Bears’ Royce O’Neale, who had 16 points, five assists and five rebounds. “Our main goal is to get to the paint, penetrate, find an open person for an open shot. You might have a good shot, but somebody else might have a better one.”
Baylor trailed 31-25 with 4:36 left in the first half but a 12-3 run fueled by aggressive basket attacks that produced six free throws helped the Bears take a 38-36 lead to the locker room. Until Baylor’s surge over the last four minutes, neither team had a lead larger than three points in the second half.
“That's the great thing about playing in the Big 12, if you're going to win, they're probably going to be close games,” said Baylor coach Scott Drew, whose team has still not allowed an opponent to break the 75-point barrier this season.”Playing in hostile arenas in front of tough crowds, you have to learn how to play in tough situations.”