The Baylor Bears and the Kansas Jayhawks get entangled this coming weekend down in Lawrence. These are two Big 12 heavyweights, and only one can come away with a huge March Madness-boosting win. Check out our preview below of this Baylor-Kansas Big 12 college basketball showdown.
After the Bears got tripped up in Tuscaloosa by the Alabama Crimson Tide, they rebounded with an 81-77 home win against the West Virginia Mountaineers on Monday. James Akinjo carried the Bears on his shoulders and scored 25 points against West Virginia, but it’s also Baylor’s defense that fueled the reigning national champions. Baylor forced the Mountaineers to pick up a total of 15 turnovers. On the season, the Bears are 14th with opponents averaging 17.1 turnovers per game and eighth with a 21.9 turnover rate. Those active hands by the Bears are giving them 9.5 steals per contest as well. As good as they are on defense, Baylor might even be better on the other end of the floor. The Bears are fifth nationally with 119.0 points per 100 possessions and tops in the Big 12 with a 54.5 effective field goal percentage.
Baylor is 7-3 against the spread in its last 10 games away from Waco.
Kansas needs a pick-me-up after getting crushed by the Kentucky Wildcats in an 80-62 home loss last Saturday. The Jayhawks are due to face the Iowa State Cyclones this Tuesday in Ames, so that’s a good chance for Kansas to return to its winning ways and establish momentum heading into the showdown with Baylor. The Jayhawks got pounded on the glass in that game, as they finished -12 in rebounding and -5 in offensive board battle. But Kansas shouldn’t be dominated in that area against Baylor. Kentucky’s Oscar Tshiebwe is simply on a level of his own and he’s someone that the Bears don’t have, though the Jayhawks should be wary of Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua. Meanwhile, Ochai Agbaji will look to keep the scoring flowing for Kansas, which is eighth in the nation with 80.6 points per game.
The Over is 6-3-1 in Kansas’ last 10 games as the home team.
