#15 TCU without Miles in 76-72 win over West Virginia

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Damion Baugh had 16 points and 10 assists, fullback Eddie Lampkin Jr. made an unexpected return from injury, and 15th-ranked TCU overcame the absence of leading scorer Mike Miles Jr. for beat West Virginia 76- 72 Tuesday night. JaKobe Coles had 17 points, Shahada Wells 16 points and Xavier Cork 15 for the Horned Frogs (17-5, 6-3 Big 12), who finished the first half of their conference schedule in a four-way tie with the No. 7 Kansas State, No. 8 Kansas and No. 13 Iowa State for second place. They are all within a game of #10 Texas, the league leader. Erik Stevenson had 17 points and Tre Mitchell 15 for West Virginia (13-9, 2-7). Wells was in TCU’s starting lineup with Miles out with a hyperextended right knee. The Big 12’s second leading scorer (18.1 points per game) was injured less than four minutes into the Frogs’ loss to Mississippi State on Saturday. Lampkin, their top rebounder, had missed the last two games with a sprained left ankle and was not expected to play against West Virginia. But the 6-foot-11 center, came in after the media’s first timeout, and in just over a minute had a layup and then a drop pass assist to Baugh for another TCU field goal. The Horned Frogs missed their next eight shots and West Virginia was up 16-15 when Stevenson hit a float midway through the first half. But the Mountaineers never regained the lead and never came close to their four-point halftime deficit. BIG PICTUREWest Virginia: Stevenson, the fifth-year senior transfer from South Carolina, was coming off a 31-point game against Auburn that earned him Big 12 newcomer of the week honors. But the guard got off to a slow start against TCU, going 1-for-5 with just two points before halftime. He had WVU’s first three field goals after halftime before the Frogs scored the next seven points for an 11-point lead. TCU: Though Lampkin only played eight minutes and was clearly still limping, his high-energy play provided a big boost for the Horned Frogs. He first entered in the middle of a snap that brought them on to stay. TCU, which earned its first NCAA tournament win in 35 years last year, needs a healthy Lampkin and Miles down the stretch. An MRI on Miles showed no ligament damage, although the timetable for his return is still uncertain. NEXT West Virginia is at home Saturday night against Oklahoma, who beat the Mountaineers 77-76 on Jan. 14. TCU plays Oklahoma State on Saturday.___AP college basketball: ee

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