Cryer and Mayer End Bears' Two-Game Skid with 77-68 Victory over WVU
MORGANTOWN, West Virginia – The No. 5 Baylor Men's Basketball (16-2, 4-2) team ended their two-game skid with a 77-68 victory over the West Virginia Mountaineers (13-4, 2-3).
LJ Cryer finished with a team-high 25 points, a career mark for him, on 8/16 shooting including 5/9 from three-point range. Matthew Mayer added a career-high 20 points with 4 rebounds, 4 steals, and 2 assists.
Adam Flagler finished with 14 points, 7 assists, and 4 turnovers, while Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua had 10 points, 7 boards, and 4 turnovers as well.
Baylor was up and down in the first half, opening with two early turnovers then bursting to a 30-14 lead by the under 8-minute TV timeout.
This was thanks to a 25-4 run by the Bears. Highlights included a beauty of a transition feed from Flagler to Tchamwa Tchatchoua, a Mayer steal and slam, multiple Mayer threes, and a Flagler to Flo Thamba feed for an easy bucket.
Whether it was Scott Drew and his staff making schematic changes or the Bears' stretching the WVU defense with early threes, the Bears' offense was flowing more smoothly than it had all year.
However, right when it seemed like a get-right, route of a game, the Mountaineers responded with a 14-0 run of their own.
Sean McNeil and Malik Curry lead the Mountaineers' fight back, finishing the half with 9 points each.
Mayer led the Bears with 11 points in the first half, followed by LJ Cryer with 9 and Everyday Jon with 8. Flagler struggled with just 5 points on 2/7 shooting, 4 assists, and 4 turnovers, but Baylor led 37-33.
The second half started out in a more typical back and forth manner, with Baylor and WVU trading buckets rather than double-digit runs.
With a two-point lead and 6:31 to go, a Cryer layup followed by Mayer and Flagler threes gave Baylor a little room to work with, but that 66-61 lead quickly became tenuous with Mayer and Cryer both picking up their fourth personal fouls around the 5-minute mark.
Cryer spent about 20 seconds of game time on the bench before coming back in and helping Flagler extend the Baylor lead to 10 at 71-61.
After the game coach Drew said that they did not want to foul LJ out of the game themselves, so they trusted him on the court instead.
Flagler heated up late with 8 of his nine second-half points down the stretch, to hopefully break him out of his recent scoring slump.
The team shot 47% from the field, 44% from three, and went 9/11 from the free-throw line. They totaled 13 turnovers but looked much crisper on offense today compared to last week.
Also worth noting: Dale Bonner played some solid minutes off the bench while mostly staying within his game. Very useful for the rotation while the Bears are dealing with injuries.
Up next for the Bears is a Saturday trip to Norman, Oklahoma to face the 12-5 Sooners, who are hosting Kansas as of the writing of this article. The game will tip-off at 2 PM CT on 1/22 and will be available on ESPN+.