No. 16 Baylor 80, No. 18 West Virginia 70: Taurean Prince scored 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting as the fourth-seeded Bears defeated the fifth-seeded Mountaineers in the Big 12 quarterfinals in Kansas City.

Royce O’Neale added 16 points, five rebounds and five assists for Baylor (24-8), which will face top-seeded Kansas in Friday’s semifinals. Rico Gathers added 15 points and nine rebounds, and Lester Medford added 10 points.

Jaysean Paige made four 3-pointers while scoring a career-high 18 points for West Virginia (23-9). Devin Williams added 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting, and Daxter Miles Jr., scored 11 for the Mountaineers, who played without standout guard Juwan Staten.

Miles and Jevon Carter committed back-to-back turnovers and the Bears cashed in with baskets by Gathers and Medford to take a 71-66 lead with 3:15 to play. Baylor’s lead grew to nine on two free throws by Ishmail Wainright with 1:40 remaining and the Mountaineers couldn’t mount a final charge as they went the final 6 1/2 minutes without a field goal.

West Virginia led by six points on Carter’s 3-pointer with 4:33 remaining in the first half before Baylor closed with a 13-5 run to take a 38-36 lead into the break. The contest was tied at 49 before Prince scored three consecutive baskets for a six-point edge, and the Mountaineers responded with six straight and tied it on Williams’ basket with 10:45 left.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Staten (knee, groin) missed his fourth straight game, and teammate G Gary Browne (foot) sat out his third consecutive contest. … Baylor has reached the Big 12 semifinals for the fifth time in seven seasons. … The Bears made twice as many free throws (26) as West Virginia (13).