Langston Love made all four of his free-throw attempts in overtime to cap his 12-of-12 effort from the line as Baylor edged West Virginia 74-71 on Saturday in Waco, Texas.
Love finished with 17 points to share the team lead with Norchad Omier, who also grabbed 10 rebounds before fouling out in the final seconds of overtime. Robert Wright III scored 16 points and Jalen Celestine added 10 points for Baylor (16-9, 8-6 Big 12) which has split its last six games.
Javon Small had a game-high 22 points and six assists, while Toby Okani added 19 points and seven rebounds for WVU (15-10, 6-8) in its second straight loss.
Love scored first in overtime on a pair of free throws to give Baylor a 67-65 lead. Wright made two more to push the Bears ahead by four with 1:36 left in the extra period.
After Amani Hansberry’s jumper gave the Mountaineers their first points of overtime with 1:15 remaining, Love hit two more free throws with 52.7 seconds to go to push Baylor’s lead to 71-67.
Small answered with a driving layup and WVU was down 71-69. His free throws pulled the Mountaineers within 73-71 with 14 seconds left.
WVU was down three when Celestine missed his second free throw in the final seconds, but Omier’s offensive rebound helped the Bears secure the win.
Separation was hard to come by for either team. The game featured 11 ties and 10 lead changes. Wright missed a layup in the closing seconds of regulation and Jonathan Powell’s half-court heave for WVU clanked off the rim.
The Bears went up 65-63 on Wright’s driving layup with 1:34 to play. But Hansberry made a pair of free throws for WVU to tie the game at 65.
A deep 3-pointer from Small tied the game at 21 with 5:10 left in the first half, but those were the last points the Mountaineers would score for over four minutes. Late in the first half, Baylor went on a 9-0 run highlighted by a lefty layup by Omier, who sealed his defender for a 28-21 lead with 2:08 left in the first half.
Small’s two-handed slam and foul-line floater snapped the Bears’ rally as the Mountaineers trailed 30-25 at halftime.
–Field Level Media
