The Baylor Bears and the Kansas State Wildcats stage Round 2 of their regular-season series this coming Wednesday in Manhattan. The Bears won the first meeting, but the Wildcats have been on a roll of late. Check out our preview below of this Big 12 college basketball matchup.
Baylor got embarrassed in Lawrence last Saturday, as the Bears took an 83-59 road loss at the hands of the Kansas Jayhawks. It’s the second loss in three games for the Bears, who are now 7-3 in Big 12 play. Baylor couldn’t get its shots to fall against the Jayhawks, making just 29.6 percent of its shots from the field. If anything, they did get nine more shots than Kansas. But perhaps Baylor can get into its offensive rhythm again this coming Wednesday against the Wildcats, just like in the first meeting between these two teams. The Bears defeated Kansas State on Jan. 25 in Waco, easily covering the 12.5-point spread as favorites in a 74-49 win. They shot nearly 57 percent from the field in that game and limited Kansas State to only 31.7 percent shooting from the field. On the season, Baylor is averaging 77.9 points per game and allows just 62.3 per contest.
Baylor is 6-4 against the spread in its last 10 road games.
After three losses in a row, Kansas State has gotten back up. They are on a two-game win streak, having beaten the Oklahoma State Cowboys at home on Feb. 2, 71-68, before taking down the TCU Horned Frogs on the road last Saturday, 75-63. Those are great wins to build the confidence of a Kansas State team that, as mentioned, was crushed last month by the reigning national champions. The Wildcats are not elite on either side of the ball, but their defense has picked up of late. Against the Horned Frogs, they held TCU below 40 percent shooting from the field and also forced 14 turnovers. The Wildcats have also been taking good care of the leather in conference play, as they are No. 1 in the Big 12 in turnover rate. Their offense relies a lot on their outside shooting, as 37.4 percent of their points come from behind the arc – tops in the Big 12.
Kansas State is 3-0 against the spread in its last three games.
