MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — After a challenging January with six of nine contests away from home and separate extended two-game trips, No. 22 West Virginia is eager to start the February portion of its schedule at Hope Coliseum.
That begins at 1 p.m. Sunday in the form of a nationally-televised contest with 14th-ranked Baylor. The matchup with the Bears can be seen on ESPN.
With his team fresh off a split of a two-game trip in Utah, WVU head coach Mark Kellogg believes the Bears, winners of eight straight and tied atop the Big 12 Conference standings, could very well represent the Mountaineers’ toughest test this season.
“They’re playing great. They lost the first league game without their leading scorer and have rattled off eight straight since,” Kellogg said. “They’re well-coached. They’re great defensively. Their defensive metrics are off the charts. They’re solid offensively for sure and that’s probably an understatement. They’re better than solid and really good on that end as well.
“This is a complete team maybe playing as well or the best of anybody in our league, so they’ll present a great challenge.”
After claiming a come-from-behind 91-77 victory at BYU, the Mountaineers (17-5, 7-3) were unable to replicate that in a 71-64 loss at Utah on Tuesday.
“It had a weird feel to it. I don’t know what was going on, but in the other games I’ve felt when we’re behind we’re alright and we’re in a decent place and can make a few adjustments,” Kellogg said. “Our press wasn’t great. They never felt us. They never felt the defensive pressure and intensity until the one run, but by then, it was a little late.”
It will take a far better showing from WVU to avoid a fourth home loss this season and its second losing streak of the season.
Baylor (19-3, 8-1) lost to Texas Tech in its Big 12 opener, 61-60. Bears’ guard Taliah Scott, who leads the team in scoring, was scoreless and played 2 minutes that day due to a foot injury suffered the previous week in a loss to Texas.
Since the setback to the Red Raiders, BU is unbeaten over the last six weeks with an average margin of victory just north of a dozen.
Each of the Bears’ last five victories has come by double digits, with the Bears having held six straight opponents to no more than 66 points, four of which failed to score 60.
Baylor leads the Big 12 in fewest points allowed within conference play at 59.1. The Bears have limited Big 12 opponents to 35.6 percent field goal shooting and a paltry 21.2 percent from three-point range, while averaging 5.9 blocks.
“Points may be at a premium for sure,” Kellogg said.
Scott’s 20.3 scoring average is second in the Big 12, and while she’s the offensive catalyst, the Bears have plenty of other option, including Darianna Littlepage-Buggs, a 6-1 forward averaging a double-double of 10.9 points and 10.9 rebounds.
Littlepage-Buggs is a former teammate of WVU point guard Jordan Harrison’s on both the AAU circuit and in high school at Classen School of Advanced Studies in Oklahoma City.
Harrison is one of four Mountaineers averaging double-figure scoring at 12.6 points and she ranks fifth in the Big 12 with an average of 5.2 assists.
The two maintain a close friendship, but one that will be put on pause throughout Sunday.
“When we get on the court, both of us know it’s business,” Harrison said. “We play two different positions, so it’s not like we’re always next to each other. But I know if I go to the basket, I have to pump fake or something. I know how she plays a little bit and that helps so I can tell my teammates a little something.”