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MORGANTOWN -- Coming off its biggest win of the season, West Virginia (9-9, 1-5 Big 12) gets one day of rest before taking on a Baylor team fresh off a huge victory over No. 8 Texas Tech.
"That's the way it is in this conference," WVU's Chase Harler explained following the Mountaineers' 65-64 come-from-behind win over No. 7 Kansas Saturday night in the Coliseum. "There are not easy games. There are no nights off. We deserved that one.
"There were games this year where we didn't deserve to win. But, there were also games where we played hard and the ball just didn't bounce our way.
"Guys were beginning to start feeling a little sorry for themselves. I started feeling a little sorry for myself. Getting this one reminds us that we have the talent on this team to beat anybody in this conference."
And, that brings us to a Baylor Bears team which is 11-6 overall and 3-2 in Big 12 play after Saturday night's 73-62 win over Texas Tech.
The Bears have won three of their last four, including wins over Oklahoma State (73-69) and Iowa State (73-70), and is 2-2 on the road in Coach Scott Drew's 16th season at the helm.
"We get (Saturday night)," said senior Esa Ahmad, who chipped in eight points, seven rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals in the win over the Jayhawks. "We get to celebrate (Saturday) and (Sunday) we'll be back in the gym getting ready for Baylor."
A Baylor squad which holds an 8-7 series advantage on West Virginia, but the Mountaineers have won six of the last seven meetings, including all three meetings last season.
More importantly WVU faces another Big 12 opponent which has struggled in the Coliseum -- Baylor has lost its last three games in Morgantown.
"Our crowd was great," added Harler, who finished with seven points and two rebounds in 19 minutes of action. "Hopefully, they will keep coming out and supporting us like they did (Saturday) and we can keep giving them reasons to come out and support us."
Drew will, in all probability, start a lineup which will include seniors King McClure (10.8 ppg) and Makai Mason (14.7 ppg) along with freshman Jared Butler (8.2 ppg) at the guards with sophomores Mark Vital (6.2 ppg, 7.7 rpg) and Mario Kegler (7.7 ppg, 6.0 rpg) at the forwards.
Conversely, West Virginia's starting lineup could have as many as 14 different names listed on it when the Mountaineers' take to the court for the 9 p.m. tipoff.
It would appear that junior Jermaine Haley (4.0 ppg), who hit the game-winning shot against the Jayhawks and matched his career-high of 13 points in the win, has secured the point guard slot while freshmen Jordan McCabe (2.5 ppg) and Brandon Knapper (4.0 ppg) have been relegated to the backup role.
Juniors James 'Beetle' Bolden (12.2 ppg), who did not start against Kansas due to an illness, and Harler (4.9 ppg) are the top two choices for Coach Bob Huggins at the shooting guard with true freshman Trey Doomes providing backup.
The forwards should be Ahmad, who leads the team with a 12.5 points per game average, junior Wesley Harris (8.3 ppg) and sophomore Andrew Gordon (2.4 ppg). However, junior Lamont West (11.0 ppg), Cameron native Logan Routt (2.7 ppg) -- who has made 10 starts at the position this season -- and freshmen Derek Culver (11.9 ppg, 8.4 rpg) and Emmitt Matthews Jr. (2.5 ppg) have seen considerable time on the court.