No. 10 West Virginia too much for No. 1 Baylor as it routs the Bears 89-68.
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Baylor’s euphoria over its ascent to the No. 1 ranking lasted just one day.
Nathan Adrian broke out of a shooting slump with a career-high 22 points, and No. 10 West Virginia beat the sloppy Bears 89-68 on Tuesday night in the program’s first game with the top ranking.
Baylor defeated Iowa State and Oklahoma State last week by a combined six points at home to overtake Villanova for the No. 1 spot when the AP poll came out on Monday.
Against West Virginia, Baylor (15-1, 3-1 Big 12) committed a season-high 29 turnovers — the school record is 31 — and never led in its second true road game of the season. The loss means No. 5 Gonzaga is the only remaining unbeaten team in Division I.
“They just took us out of everything,” Baylor coach Scott Drew said. “We weren’t overconfident. They just kicked our butt.”
West Virginia (14-2, 3-1) started the second half with an 11-3 run and kept pouring it on, leading by as many as 26 points down the stretch.
“From the players to the managers, there was nobody in our locker room that didn’t think we should win,” West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said. “My hope is we get to the point where it’s expected rather than celebrating.”
Jevon Carter scored 17 points for the Mountaineers, and Brandon Watkins had 11.
Terry Maston, Jo LualAcuil Jr. and Al Freeman each scored 10 for Baylor.
West Virginia leads the nation with nearly 13 steals and 24 forced turnovers per game.
“Press Virginia is real,” Baylor guard Jake Lindsey said. “You can’t let them press you relentlessly without making them pay for it or else it wears you down.”
TEXAS TECH 66 KANSAS ST. 65
Keenan Evans made a go-ahead layup with 15 seconds left, helping the Red Raiders beat the No. 25 Wildcats.
Evans’ basket gave Tech a 63-62 lead. Aaron Ross and Niem Stevenson then combined for three foul shots to give the Red Raiders some breathing room.
Evans finished with 18 points. Zach Smith had 16 points and seven rebounds for Tech, which improved to 11-0 at home.
Kamau Stokes led Kansas State with 17 points.
KANSAS 81, OKLAHOMA 70
Frank Mason scored 19 of his 28 points in the second half, and the No. 2 Jayhawks rallied to beat the host Sooners for their 15th consecutive victory.
Oklahoma, which led 36-27 at halftime, lost its seventh in a row.
VILLANOVA 79, XAVIER 54
Kris Jenkins and Josh Hart each scored 20 points, and the host Wildcats beat the No. 15 Musketeers in their first game as the No. 3 team after five weeks at No. 1.
KENTUCKY 87, VANDERBILT 81
Malik Monk scored six points in the final 32 seconds, and the No. 6 Wildcats remained unbeaten in the Southeastern Conference by holding off the host Commodores.
FLORIDA ST. 88, DUKE 72
At Tallahassee, Fla., Xavier Rathan-Mayes scored 18 of his 21 points in the second half, helping the No. 9 Seminoles beat the No. 7 Blue Devils for their school-record 12th consecutive win.
Duke had a 50-48 lead before Florida State took control with a 16-4 run.
Women CONNECTICUT 102 SOUTH FLORIDA 37
At Hartford, Conn., the No. 1 Huskies tied their NCAA record with a 90th consecutive victory, routing the No. 20 Bulls.
Connecticut will try to surpass the streak it achieved between November 2008 and December 2010 when it plays at SMU on Saturday.
TEXAS 66 OKLAHOMA ST. 35
At Austin, Brooke McCarty scored 16 points with four 3-pointers, and the No. 16 Longhorns won their ninth straight.