Big 12 Tourney – Bears vs Tigers CBB Handicapping Prediction
Missouri beat Texas in the Big 12 tourney semis and if they can beat Baylor in the finals they have a chance to snag a precious #1 seed in the Big Dance.
Venue/ Stadium: Sprint Center, Kansas City, MO
Time/Date: 6 PM EST Saturday, March 10, 2012
NCAA Odds From: Bovada
Moneyline: OFF
Spread (ATS): OFF
Over/Under: OFF
No. 11 Baylor Bears vs. No. 5 Missouri Tigers Preview
Baylor will not get a #1 seed, but they can improve their seed in the NCAA tourney with a win over Mizzou, but that will not be easy since they already lost to the Tigers twice this season.
In the semifinals of the Big 12 conference tournament Baylor beat Kansas 81-72 and Mizzou beat Texas 81-67.
This season Baylor is 12-14 ATS with an O/U record of 14-12 and Mizzou is 17-9-2 ATS with an O/U record of 17-10-1.
The big question for this game is can Baylor keep Mizzou’s backcourt from lighting up the scoreboard? I mean you can tell how deep the Tigers’ backcourt is, as they beat Texas last night even though leading scorer Marcus Denmon (17.7 ppg) was 0/10 from the field and only finished with 2 points. However, the G duo of Kim English and Phil Pressey each scored 23 points on a combined 17/23 shooting.
Baylor only shot 40% from the floor in the win over Kansas, but every starter scored in double figures and they were 9/19 from behind the 3-pt arc.
Perry Jones III was the high scorer for Baylor in the Kansas game going for 18 points and he grabbed 7 boards. Mizzou’s Ricardo Ratliffe is the only legit big man the Tigers have and he was a monster in the Texas game going for 18 points and 14 rebounds. He will have to play well against the taller Jones III and not allow him to dominate in the lane. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
Mizzou also has to keep tabs on 6’9″ F Quincy Miller, who scored 49 points in the 2 games facing them this season.
The Tigers rank 3rd in the nation in team FG% and the Bears have to play good defense and not allow Mizzou to take easy shots. Baylor played solid D in the win over Kansas holding the Jayhawks to 42.6% shooting.
Baylor has lost 3 straight to Missouri and they are looking to capture their first ever Big 12 tournament crown.
In some betting trends for this Big 12 final Baylor is 2-8 ATS in their last 10 games following a S.U. win, 3-13 ATS in their last 16 games following a ATS win, and they have an Under record of 4-1 in their last 5 vs. a team with a winning S.U. record.
Mizzou is 5-0 ATS in their last 5 neutral site games, 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games overall, and they have an Over record of 8-0 in their last 8 games.
Jason’s Pick: I think Mizzou backcourt is simply too good and Denmon will not struggle again, as the Tigers will win this game and cover the spread.
