MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Coach Scott Drew jumped on Mark Vital’s back after Baylor won the Big 12 championship, pointed a finger at the sky and then left the court in front of his players to prepare for an even tougher celebration.
“I was able to hit them in the locker room, prepare the water, and prepare them,” Drew said. “And I also prepared cold water for them.”
Jared Butler scored 25 points before committing a foul, Davion Mitchell hit the overtime basket in overtime, and third-placed Bears beat West Virginia No. 6 94-89 Tuesday for the first regular-season title Bears 12.
Baylor (19-1, 11-1 Big 12) bounced back heavily from their only loss of the season at No. 13 in Kansas on Saturday. The Bears had difficulties in their previous two games due to a three-week layoff due to problems with the COVID-19 program.
After scoring just 58 points against the Jayhawks, Baylor kept his energy and scoring touches all the way against the Mountaineers (17-7, 10-5).
“Probably Baylor’s first moment,” said Butler, who had committed a foul on overtime to run back on the track after he ended up hugging all of his teammates in sight.
Drew, who has spent 18 seasons at Baylor watching other teams, mostly Kansas, take home the title, joked that he jumped on the back of fifth-year senior Vital because “Mark is the only one who has been in Baylor longer than me. “
Butler finished with 25 points. Mitchell scored four of Baylor’s 13 points in overtime and finished with 20. Matthew Mayer had 18 points maximum in the season for the Bears.
Taz Sherman came off the bench to score 26 points in the Mountaineers ’career. Miles McBride added 19 points and Sean McNeil scored 18, including 15 after the break.
West Virginia scored just one field goal in extra time.
Baylor jumped to a quick double-digit lead and for a while the match looked like a thrashing. But the Bears ran out of goals for nearly six minutes before the break, allowing West Virginia to keep it close for the rest of the game.
“It was a windmill, I’m not going to lie,” Butler said. “We’re still a little rusty. We’re still a little out of shape, especially me. But we fought it. We knew it would be tough. We knew West Virginia would give us the best chance.”
Butler’s throw with 2.7 seconds left in the regulation made the game come to an end in 81 hours.
“It was extremely difficult,” Butler said. “I just couldn’t watch the game.”
Sherman hit one of two free throws to put the Mountaineers ahead 89-88 before Mitchell’s put in with 59 seconds left in overtime put Baylor ahead to stay. Mitchell then took charge against McBride with 27 seconds left, and Mitchell fired two free throws with 18 seconds left for the final margin.
“I think by going into overtime, we’ve lost that fire and that energy and let it escape,” McNeil said.
Moving from that loss to Kansas to championing the conference in three days was an instant solution to Baylor’s prospects.
“When you lose, it’s like a stormy cloud over your head,” Butler said. “Everywhere you look today, the tide of protectionist sentiment is flowing.
“This victory and what we have achieved at Baylor will change the whole mood of the program. It gives us back our confidence.”
It’s the Bears ’first conference title since winning the 1950 Southwest Conference Championship. The Bears have improved to 4-0 against the top ten teams this season. They fired 51% (36 of 70) from the ground against West Virginia. The conference’s top three-point shooting team made up 13.
Baylor is playing its No. 17 Oklahoma State regular season at home on Thursday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.