West Virginia coach Ross Hodge reacts during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Kansas Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Morgantown, W.Va. (AP Photo/Kathleen Batten)

MORGANTOWN — We are told that slow and steady wins the race, that it’s how a team finishes rather than how it starts that determines most outcomes.

Honor Huff and his WVU men’s basketball teammates are big believers in that theory, evident by how they’ve rarely shot out of the gate with thunderous momentum since the start of Big 12 play, yet the Mountaineers are set to host Baylor at 4 p.m. today inside Hope Coliseum still exceeding their preseason expectations with an opportunity to remain in the upper half of the conference with a win.

That wouldn’t have been anyone’s deduction who watched the early portions of most of WVU’s Big 12 games. The Mountaineers took nearly eight minutes before scoring a second basket against Houston, fell in a 22-8 hole versus Arizona and trailed by 13 midway through the first half against Arizona State.

The kicker was Tuesday’s 59-54 victory against Kansas State. WVU began that game with four missed shots and four turnovers over its first eight possessions. The Mountaineers were held scoreless for nearly the first six minutes of the game.

Huff was asked afterward to grade the start.

“What’s the worst?” he fired back.

Good question, because if there are any number of ways for a basketball team to get off to a slow start, WVU (14-7, 5-3 Big 12) has just about covered them all so far.

“It was a slow start on both ends of the floor, really for both teams,” Huff continued. “We were just giving them the ball and couldn’t get anything going. Obviously, we were missing shots.”

In comes Baylor (11-9, 1-7), who enters the matchup on a four-game skid. Over their first eight Big 12 games this season, the Bears have only led at halftime once.

With that in mind, nothing may be off the table as to what may happen over the first 20 minutes today.

“I would imagine like most people against us, if you can increase the tempo, you probably feel better about your chances of scoring,” WVU head coach Ross Hodge said.

There is something to be said, though, that WVU’s slow starts revolve mostly around its offense, while the Mountaineers’ defense has shown up early to keep them in the game.

Against Houston, while WVU went more than 15 minutes of the first half held to just five points, the Cougars were held to just 34% shooting and weren’t exactly off to the races. WVU trailed Arizona State by 13 with 8:52 remaining in the first half, but cut that deficit to two points by halftime.

Against Kansas State, WVU took a long time to score, but when it finally did, the Mountaineers’ defense had held the Wildcats to just seven points.

“We knew we were in a dog fight, and we clearly weren’t playing great,” Hodge said. “We weren’t able to score, but they were never able to, like, really extend (the lead).”

“It was about maintaining focus as a group and galvanizing together to create a mindset of, OK, let’s do this,” added Huff. “We flipped the switch, but early on, we gave them the momentum and gave them points.”

Against Baylor, the Mountaineers will face a team with one of the leading scorers in the conference in 6-foot-5 guard Cameron Moore (19.5 ppg), a third-year sophomore who transferred to Baylor from Tennessee this season. WVU will also have to contend with talented freshman Tounde Yessoufou (17.6 ppg.). Both players are projected first-round picks in the 2026 NBA Draft.

A bigger storyline at Baylor revolves around 7-foot center James Nnaji, who joined the roster after Christmas after having played professionally in the EuroLeague for Barcelona both before and after being drafted as the first pick in the second round of the 2023 NBA Draft by the Detroit Pistons.

Nnaji, who never played a game in the NBA, is one of a handful of players this season who made headlines by gaining clearance from the NCAA to enroll and become eligible to play for a college team.

So far, Nnaji’s impact for Baylor has been minimal. In seven games, he’s playing 11 minutes per game and averaging just 1.4 points.

WVU forward Chance Moore was asked about Nnaji’s situation earlier this season, and his take was he didn’t seem to mind competing against a former professional player in a college atmosphere.

“We’re definitely in different times,” Moore said. “It seems like not everything goes, but a lot of things are starting to get accepted. In this conference, you might be playing against a future pro every night anyways.

“I feel like all these (Big 12) players can go pro at some level, so you just have to be ready for each and every game.”