Baylor Bears vs West Virginia Mountaineers Match Player Stats On Mar 02, 2021

Jared Butler had 25 points and made a key layup to force overtime, and Davion Mitchell hit the go-ahead basket in the final minute of OT as No. 3 Baylor clinched the Big 12 regular-season championship with a 94-89 win over No. 6 West Virginia on Tuesday in Morgantown, W.Va.

The Bears, who clinched their first conference championship in 71 years, trailed 81-79 in regulation when Butler muscled the ball in on a drive to tie the game with 2.7 seconds left. In the extra session, after Butler fouled out and with West Virginia up 89-88, Mitchell (20 points) scored to put Baylor (19-1, 11-1 in Big 12) ahead for good.

Matthew Mayer added 18 points for the Bears, who shot 51.4 percent to rebound from their first loss of the season Saturday at Kansas, and earn the program's first league title since winning the Southwest Conference in 1950.

Taz Sherman had 26 points, Miles McBride scored 19 and Sean McNeil added 18 for West Virginia (17-7, 10-5), which shot 46.4 percent but allowed Baylor to score the final six points of overtime.

West Virginia trailed 40-35, but surged ahead via a 15-3 run. It was highlighted by 11 straight Mountaineers' points from McNeil. He tied the game at 40-40 with a 3-pointer, but Butler's 3 put the Bears ahead. McNeil made a long 2, then hit back-to-back 3-pointers, the first to give West Virginia its first lead of the game at 45-43 with 15:23 left in regulation.

Another McNeil 3-pointer and Emmitt Matthews Jr.'s dunk pushed the West Virginia lead to 50-43. Baylor, though, charged back to tie it at 52 and led 55-54 on Mayer's 3-point play before West Virginia used a 6-0 run to build a 60-55 advantage. Baylor again fought its way back to tie it at 74 on Mayer's 3-pointer, and the game went back and forth the rest of regulation.

After shooting 34.8 percent and making just six 3-pointers at Kansas, Baylor made nine of its first 12 shots, including 4-of-6 from distance, and used an 8-0 spurt to take an early 12-2 lead. The Bears extended that lead to 21-9 via Mitchell's 3-pointer.

However, Baylor's hot shooting went cold and West Virginia found its form. The Mountaineers clawed back thanks to eight straight West Virginia points from Sherman. An 8-0 run of its own got West Virginia within one point in the final seconds of the half.

But Baylor ended an 0-for-11 field-goal stretch and a scoring drought of 5:55 when Butler knocked down a 3 from the corner at first-half buzzer to give the visitors a 35-31 edge at the break.

--Field Level Media