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, then ran off the field in front of his players to prepare for an even tougher celebration.
“I managed to beat them in the locker room, prepare the water and prepare them,” Drew said. “And I prepared cold water for them.”
Jared Butler scored 25 points before committing a foul, Davion Mitchell hit the basket in overtime, and Bears, ranked third, won on Tuesday no. 6 West Virginia 94-89 Tuesday for the first title of the Bears’ Big 12 regular season.
Baylor (19-1, 11-1 Big 12) has largely returned from his only loss of the season to No. 13 in Kansas on Saturday. The Bears fought in the previous two games that came out of a three-week vacation due to COVID-19 problems in the program.
After scoring just 58 points against the Jayhawks, Baylor kept his energy and scoring until the end of the Mountaineers (17-7, 10-5).
“Probably the most important moment in Baylor,” said Butler, who failed in overtime only to run back on the field after finishing to hug every teammate in sight.
Drew, who spent 18 seasons at Baylor watching other teams, most notably Kansas, take home the title, joked that he jumped on senior Vital for the fifth year because Baylor more than me.
Butler finished with 25 points. Mitchell scored four of Baylor’s 13 points in overtime and finished with 20. Matthew Mayer had a maximum score of 18 points this season for the Bears.
Taz Sherman came off the bench to score 26 points in his climbing career. Miles McBride added 19 points and Sean McNeil scored 18, including 15 after the break.
West Virginia only managed one goal in overtime.
Baylor jumped to a fast double-digit lead and for a while the game looked like a shot. But the Bears went scoreless for nearly six minutes before the break, allowing West Virginia to hold on for most of the rest of the game.
“He was a policeman, I’m not going to lie,” Butler said. “We are still a little rusty. We’re still a little fit, especially me. But we fought through it. I knew it was going to be tough. We knew West Virginia would give us the best shot. “
Butler’s Layler, with 2.7 seconds left in regulation, brought the game in overtime to tie at 81. But he failed with 1:15 left in overtime.
“It was extremely difficult,” Butler said. “I just couldn’t watch the game.”
Sherman hit one of two free throws to put the Mountaineers 89-88 ahead before Mitchell’s lay was 59 seconds into overtime, putting Baylor ahead to stay. Mitchell then took a charge against McBride with 27 seconds left, and Mitchell hit two free throws with 18 seconds left for the final margin.
“I think going into overtime I just lost fire and energy and let it go,” McNeil said.
The move from this loss in Kansas to the conference champion in a matter of three days was an instant solution to Baylor’s prospects.
“When you lose, it’s like a storm 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 confidence back. ”
It’s the Bears’ first conference title since winning the 1950 Southwest Conference Championship. The Bears improved 4-0 against the top 10 teams this season. They shot 51% (36 out of 70) on the floor against West Virginia. The top 3-point team of the conference formed 13 of them.
Baylor will play at home, in the regular season, with the number 17 from the state of Oklahoma.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.