MORGANTOWN – A year ago Makai Mason was playing in the Ivy League for Yale University.

The graduate transfer made his Coliseum debut for Baylor a memorable one Monday night, scoring a game-high 29 points to lead the visitors to an 85-73 victory.

“We played them (Yale) in the NCAA tournament when he was there and they knocked us out of the tourney,” Baylor coach Scott Drew said. “So, we only thought it was fair that he come and play for us after he graduated from Yale.”

And, Mason proved to be the ‘real deal’ as the Bears improved to 12-6 overall and 4-2 in Big 12 play while WVU dropped below .500 (9-10) and 1-5 in league play with its final non-conference game of the season coming up on Saturday when the Mountaineers travel to Knoxville to take on the No. 1 ranked Volunteers from the University of Tennessee.

“I felt pretty relaxed,” Mason said. “We’ve got some poised guys out there and that made it easier.”

Mason’s new Baylor career-high led three Bears into double figures. Mario Kegler tallied 18 points and Devonte Bandoo came off the bench to chip in 13 as Drew’s team ended a three-game drought against the Mountaineers.

“The first half we were hot from the 3, but couldn’t make a free throw,” Drew said. “In the second half we couldn’t make a 3 but were solid from the free throw line.”

WVU was paced by James ‘Beetle’ Bolden’s 22 points and Brandon Knapper came off the bench to chip in a career-high 13 points.

Senior Esa Ahmad chipped in nine points while Wesley Harris added seven.

“You know that when you are playing a Bob Huggins team that they are going to play hard for the entire 40 minutes,” Drew said. “So, we weren’t surprised when they made that run at the end. Our guys just hung together and made plays when we had to have them.”

Fans making the trek to Morgantown for Monday night’s Big 12 showdown with Baylor University hoping to see a glimpse of the West Virginia team that knocked off then-No. 7 ranked Kansas instead were treated to a first half that looked more like the Mountaineer team that got blown out at TCU.

The Bears, who were swept by the Mountaineers a year ago and had not tasted victory in the Coliseum in their last three trips, manhandled WVU on the boards (25-17) while shooting better than 51 percent (18-of-35) against a Mountaineer defense which had limited the Jayhawks to a measly 23 points during the first 20 minutes on Saturday.