WVU prevails; Dukes beaten
Jevon Carter sank the goahead 3-pointer with 57.5 seconds left and No. 2ranked West Virginia escaped with a 57-54 Big 12 Conference victory against Baylor Tuesday night at WVU Coliseum in Morgantown, W.Va.
West Virginia (15-1, 4-0) struggled to make shots the entire game but extended Division I’s longest winning streak to 15, the Mountaineers’ best since winning 22 in a row in 1988-89.
Lamont West and Daxter Miles Jr. led West Virginia with 12 points apiece.
Baylor’s Manu Lecomte scored 13 points and Jo Lual-Acuil Jr. had 11 points and 10 rebounds for his eighth double-double of the season.
West Virginia, which had little inside success on offense against the taller Bears (11-5, 1-3), shot 31.1 percent (19 of 61) from the floor and was held to its lowest point total of the season. But the Mountaineers never trailed in the second half of a close game with few scoring runs. Baylor made one field goal over the final eight minutes.
Miles threw the ball away but raced to the other end to save it from going out of bounds on Baylor’s fast break, leading to Carter’s tiebreaking 3 for a 54-51 lead.
Miles then forced Lecomte into missing an off-balanced jumper as the shot clock expired. Miles made a free throw with 15.8 seconds left and, after Baylor’s Jake Lindsey hit a 3-pointer with four seconds to go, Carter was fouled and made both free throws for the final margin.
Lecomte’s 3-point try at the buzzer was long and right.
Other games
VCU 78, Duquesne 67: Jonathan Williams scored 21 points and Justin Tillman had 10 points and a season-high 17 rebounds, as VCU beat visiting Duquesne. VCU (11-6, 3-1 Atlantic 10) has won 15 consecutive conference home games dating to the 2015-16 season. Duquesne (12-5, 3-1) had its three-game win streak snapped. Issac Vann added 15 points and De’Riante Jenkins 12 for the Rams, who outrebounded Duquesne, 50-31. Mike Lewis II had 23 points and Eric Williams Jr. 15 to lead the Dukes. Lewis’ 3-pointer gave Duquesne its final lead, 46-43, with 10:43 to play. Jenkins and Mike’l Simms hit back-to-back 3s to spark a 23-9 run, and VCU led 66-55 with four minutes left. Tillman scored eight points, and the Rams made four of their seven 3-pointers in the stretch. The Dukes pulled to 68-61 but didn’t get closer.
Indiana 74, Penn State 70: Juwan Morgan scored 21 points and Josh Newkirk added 16 to help host Indiana (10-7, 3-2 Big Ten) hold off pesky Penn State, 74-70. Tony Carr had 28 points and Lamar Stevens finished with 20 to lead the Nittany Lions (12-6, 2-3), who have split their past four games. Mike Watkins had 10 points and 12 rebounds in the loss for Penn State. After cutting the deficit to four twice in the final minute, Carr’s 3-pointer with 8 seconds to go made it 70-67 and Nazeer Bostick’s 3 with 1.5 seconds left made it 72-70. But Indiana’s Devonte Green made two free throws to seal it with 1 second left.