Frank Mason III and the Jayhawks are a hard team to take down. West Virginia could tell you something about that, as No. 3 Kansas outlasted the No. 9 Mountaineers in overtime, 89-84, last Monday. What’s next for Kansas is a rematch with Baylor, whom the Jayhawks already defeated back in Lawrence on Feb. 1, 73-68. Kansas is 9-1 SU and 7-3 ATS in its last 10 against Baylor.
Frank Mason III led the way for the Jayhawks against WVU, scoring 24 points, though he went just 3-for-13 from the field. He mostly made a living from the free throw line, where he was 16-for-18. Just like in the Mountaineers game, Mason threw a party at the foul line in the previous meeting with Baylor, knocking down all 12 of his shots from the charity stripe.
Free throws spelled the difference in the earlier matchup with Baylor for Kansas, as the Jayhawks went 20-for-26 while Baylor was just 4-for-6. Apart from Mason, the Jayhawks will be leaning on their other guards like Devonte Graham and Josh Jackson. The two combined for 36 points against Baylor then.Mason leads the Big 12 in scoring with 20.2 per game, while Jackson is fifth with 16.5 .
Kansas drills 8.8 threes per game on 41.3 percent shooting, fifth best in Division I ball.
Baylor is looking to exact revenge on their past loss to Kansas. The Bears are also hoping they could still catch the Jayhawks atop the Big 12 standings.
Baylor has been shaky of late, having lost three of their last five games, including a bad 84-78 loss to RPI No. 83 Texas Tech, which might hurt the Bears’ bid for a No. 1 seed in the national tournament down the road. A win over Kansas this Saturday, however, would extinguish most of the doubts surrounding the team right now. The Bears’ defense will have to play a large part in that, as the Jayhawks are one of the most prolific offensive teams in the nation.
Baylor is 11th in the nation in scoring defense with only 62.2 points allowed and it limited the Jayhawks 10 points under Kansas’ season scoring average. The Bears will have to play an even more honest defense, however, to avoid giving the Jayhawks too many free throw opportunities just like in the previous encounter. Baylor is also sixth in KenPom in terms of adjusted defensive effieciency.
Johnathan Motley, who scored 16 points against Kansas, leads the team with 16.7 PPG.
