The Big 12 regular season title is for the No. 2 Kansas Jayhawks to lose. Behind a lengthy win streak, the Jayhawks managed to gain sole possession of the conference’s top spot. They can’t be too overconfident, though, with three of their next four games set against ranked opponents, including the No. 25 Baylor Bears.
Read on for more about this game. You can also check out our preview of Alabama vs. Kentucky.
Betting on the Kansas Jayhawks (23-4, 11-3 Big 12)
It’s safe to say that the Jayhawks are in cruise control. After beating Kansas State on Saturday, 72-63, Kansas managed to extend its win streak to seven games. The Jayhawks will be looking to stretch it further when the Jayhawks travel to Waco, where they are 8-2 SU and ATS in their last 10 trips.
Kansas’ run is being propelled by its smooth offense that has averaged 79.8 points over its last seven games. That’s a bit lower than the Jayhawks’ season average of 82.7 points per game, but they did beat notable teams along the way such as Kentucky, West Virginia, and Oklahoma.
Based on the way Kansas carved up Baylor’s offense the last time the two met, it appears that the Jayhawks are well equipped to stage another offensive onslaught. Kansas beat the Bears, 102-74, on January 2 with the Jayhawks shooting 53.7 percent from the field while knocking down 11 threes.
Wayne Selden Jr., who scored 24 points with six three-pointers in that game, must be poised to make it rain from downtown again against Baylor’s defense that has surrendered 8.0 threes over the Bears’ last three outings.
Selden, however, is barely the only elite scorer on Kansas’ roster that also has Perry Ellis, Frank Mason III and Devonte’ Graham. Ellis averages 16.5 points on the season, while Mason puts up 14.1 and Graham 11.1.
Rico Gathers’ flu is looking like a blessing in disguise for the Bears, who have won two games in a row against ranked opponents in No. 12 Iowa State and No. 24 Texas.
With Gathers being slowed down by the said illness, the Bears used Johnathan Motley more and the sophomore forward didn’t disappoint, scoring 27 points against Iowa State and 24 against Texas.
Hopefully for Baylor, Motley will be able to continue his exploits against Kansas to help the Bears come up with a better performance than in their earlier loss to the Jayhawks in which they shot just 39.0 percent from the floor. Regardless of Gathers’ status, Motley has already made his role clear as a reliable source of peripheral points going forward.
Gathers scored six points and had four rebounds in just 15 minutes off the bench against Texas, but two full days of rest suggest that the big man is bound to have a better game later tonight. In the previous matchup with Kansas, Gathers scored 12 points and pulled down nine boards. Gathers is the conference’s top rebounder with 10.0 boards per game and paces all active Big 12 players with 31 career double-doubles.
Taurean Prince, meanwhile, is the team’s leading scorer with 15.1 points per game. He scored 17 points in January against Kansas on 2-for-6 from the field and 12-for-12 from the free throw line.
