MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia returns home to face another challenging opponent when 12^th-ranked Baylor arrives for a Saturday night Big 12 game at the WVU Coliseum.
 
The Bears are coming off an impressive 79-62 victory over Oklahoma on Tuesday night and have won four of their last five games.
 
Baylor is once again guard-heavy with six different players averaging double figures, led by 6-foot-5, 180-pound freshman Ja'Kobe Walter, a McDonald's All-American from Link Academy in McKinney, Texas. Walter shows averages of 14.1 points and 4.7 rebounds per game while connecting on a team-best 46 3-point field goals.
 
RayJ Dennis, a 6-foot-2, 185-pound senior guard who previously played at Toledo and Boise State, is shooting nearly 50% from the floor, nearly 40% from 3 and is averaging 13.2 points and 6.5 assists per game.
 
Langston Love, Baylor's top bench player, is a 6-foot-5, 210-pound sophomore who is averaging 11.5 points per game, while Yves Missi, a 6-foot-10, 215-pound freshman, displays averages of 11 points and 5.7 rebounds while blocking a team-best 38 shots.
 
The Bears' other two double-digit scorers are former Mountaineer forward Jalen Bridges, averaging 10.8 points per game, and former VCU shooting guard Jayden Nunn, averaging 10.5 points per contest.
 
"They've always had good guard play, and it's no different this year with Langston Love, Jayden Nunn and RayJ Dennis," West Virginia coach Josh Eilert said. "They really loaded up on guards, and it's going to present a challenge for us, for sure, with the way they play.
 
"It's not that they don't have good bigs, but they live and die with their guards," Eilert added.
 
Baylor (18-6, 7-4) is outscoring its opponents by an average of 12.3 points per game and has won true road games at Oklahoma State in overtime on Jan. 6 and at UCF on Jan. 31. The Bears' other three wins away from Waco came on neutral floors against Auburn, Oregon State and Florida back in November.
 
"On the defensive end, (coach Scott Drew) kind of reverted back to some of his zone," Eilert said. "In conference play, you are seeing a lot more of that zone that he's been famous for over the years and that's shown to be pretty effective for him the last couple of nights out, especially against Oklahoma on Tuesday night."
 
West Virginia, meanwhile, is looking to snap a season-long, three-game conference losing streak in which the Mountaineers have given up at least 81 points in all three defeats.
 
Eilert believes some of his team's defensive deficiencies are rooted in inefficient offensive execution.
 
"More than anything, our identity right now is how we execute on offense," he said. "The better we are, and the more efficient we are on offense, that turns over to a better defensive team for the Mountaineers. If we can clean up some of our offensive execution, and take care of the ball a lot better, that will pay dividends on the defensive end because those two things are very well connected."
 
Turnovers were a big issue during Monday night's 81-65 loss at TCU. West Virginia (8-16, 3-8) mishandled the ball 19 times leading to 26 Horned Frog points - 18 of those coming on fastbreaks. WVU turned the ball over 15 times in its 36-point loss at Texas and shot less than 40% from the floor in both contests.
 
Senior guard RaeQuan Battle continues to lead the Mountaineers in scoring, but that total has now dipped to 15.6 points per game, including 12.4 average in 11 conference games.
 
Jesse Edwards scored 25, 16 and 17 against Cincinnati, BYU and Texas, but managed just six points on 1-of-6 shooting in last Monday's loss in Fort Worth. The senior shows averages of 14.4 points and 8.1 rebounds per game.
 
WVU's other double-digit scorers are forward Quinn Slazinski (13 ppg.) and guard Kerr Kriisa (11.3). Against TCU, the Mountaineers used a starting lineup consisting of Kriisa, Battle, Slazinski, Edwards and junior guard Kobe Johnson.
 
Guard Noah Farrakhan leads West Virginia's bench performers with an average of 9.6 points per game.
 
West Virginia is 8-6 in home games and counts conference wins in the Coliseum over No. 25 Texas, No. 3 Kansas and Cincinnati. However, Baylor has enjoyed lots of success in Morgantown, winning seven of 11 meetings and eight of the last nine games overall.
 
Saturday's game will tip off at 6 p.m. and will be televised nationally on ESPN2 (Pete Sousa and Chris Spatola). Mountaineer Sports Network radio coverage with Tony Caridi begins at 5 p.m. on stations throughout West Virginia, online via WVUsports.com and the Varsity Network and WVU Gameday apps.
 
Tickets are available and can be purchased by logging on to WVUGAME.com.