MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Through a lengthy stretch of play in the second half, the game was there for the taking for both Baylor and West Virginia despite long scoring droughts from both sides. Ultimately, the Bears connected on their final four shots from the floor and six of their last seven to supply the winning margin in a 63-53 win over the Mountaineers.

Baylor (12-9, 2-7 Big 12) earned just their second road victory of the season while handing the Mountaineers their first loss of the year inside Hope Coliseum.

“We finally defended at a level where we could win a tough game like this,” said Baylor head coach Scott Drew.

“It is so tough when you get on a losing streak because you don’t have an easy game where you can win by 30 to bounce back. You’ve got to be on your A-game to get a win. It is hard being on a losing streak. Once you get them snapped, at least for one day you feel better.”

West Virginia connected on just 18 of 50 shots from the floor in their second-worst shooting performance of the season and their worst at home.

“We just couldn’t get over that hump, whether it was missing open shots or just empty possessions,” said WVU senior forward Treysen Eaglestaff.

“Individually, we all have to play better, especially myself. There were too many turnovers at the end of the game. Stuff like that — open shots missed, you’ve just got to be a player at the end of the day. We’re playing at the highest level of college basketball. For all of us, we just need to get better individually and get back to work.”

“It was a combination of having some pretty good looks that we just couldn’t get to go down. And then we had some possessions that were poorly-coached possessions,” said WVU head coach Ross Hodge.

For the fourth consecutive game, West Virginia found themselves operating from a sizable deficit in the early minutes. WVU trailed 13-4 just 4:29 into the contest.

“I thought our urgency defensively to start the game wasn’t at the level it needed to be. Then you start letting them get into a rhythm, start making some threes and dig ourselves a hole, which now has started to become a little bit of a trend the last four games,” Hodge said.

“It starts with me, obviously. Everything that happens poorly in this program is on me. If it is a slow start, if it is not finishing great, if it is poor stretches of play, ultimately it is on the head coach. We’ll evaluate it all. You go back, look at your possessions and try to take emotions out of it and be as objective as you can.”

Despite the early deficit, WVU used a 9-0 run and a pair of triples from Eaglestaff to take a three-point lead [20-17] midway through the first half. However, the Bears answered with a 15-4 burst and they took a 38-30 lead into the locker room.

Consecutive baskets to open the second half extended Baylor’s lead to 42-30, forcing Hodge to call a quick timeout just 90 seconds into the half. Brenen Lorient scored nine consecutive points to keep the Mountaineers close. They would pull within three points with 11:29 to play. Lorient led all scorers with 19 points.

“Honor [Huff] creates a lot of energy around him,” Lorient said. “Those guys want to help out. Honor was just setting me up really nicely.”

In the second half, Baylor misfired on 13 consecutive shots from the floor. However, the Mountaineers were unable to capitalize. Over nearly the same stretch of play, WVU missed 11 of 12 shots from the floor.

“You talk about it in timeouts. ‘You don’t have to press offensively but you do have to play with a higher level of desperation and urgency on the defensive end of the floor’,” Hodge said.

A basket from Chance Moore with 2:38 to play allowed the Mountaineers to pull within five points [54-49], but they could pull no closer.

Huff was held to a season-low five points. He made just 1 of 13 shots from the floor.

“He has certainly raised the bar from an expectation level,” Hodge said. “When he shoots it, you think it is going in regardless of how deep it is or difficult it is.”

Obi Agbim and Cameron Carr each scored 16 points to lead the Bears. Carr also pulled down a dozen rebounds.

“He’s a great player,” Hodge said of Carr. “You knew he was going to bounce back. He had a rough night at Cincinnati the other night and he did what great players do. He came in with a high-level sense of urgency.”

West Virginia (14-8) has reached the midway point of Big 12 play with a 5-4 league record. They are now 13-1 at home.

“We take a lot of pride in protecting this place,” Hodge said. “Obviously, we have an incredible fanbase. They tried everything they could to get us in that game today. They tried to will us into it.”

“Our fans have helped us in so many games to get so many wins,” Lorient said. “We weren’t able to get that done for them tonight. We just, in the past couple games, we’ve got to start better.

“[Hodge’s] overall message was that we are not great. We are not terrible. We’ve just got some things we’ve got to clean up, take care of the ball more and rebound better.”

Morgantown H.S. graduate & USMC Master Gunnery Sgt. Peter Wilson performs “The Star-Spangled Banner” prior to the WVU-Baylor game at Hope Coliseum: pic.twitter.com/OrKt02FmEd

— Joe Brocato (@joebrowvm) January 31, 2026