The Bears have not been very good since B12 play started. They have dropped 3 of 4 games including both last week…however, they are still ahead of Kansas in the national rankings (go figure). [ad-4468020]
Baylor Bears (13-4) vs. Kansas Jayhawks (13-4)
Monday January 20
Allen Fieldhouse – Lawrence, KS
9:00PM
Moneyline: No moneyline currently listed
Spread: Kansas -10.5
O/U: No total currently listed
Odds From [dfads params=’groups=63740&limit=1&return_javascript=0′]
Baylor
There is talent on this team and maybe playing a team like Kansas will draw a better performance out of them. Their loss at Texas Tech was especially troubling as they sleep-walked through the first half. They are not good enough to do that in conference and win.
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Paging Isaiah Austin! When he pulled out of the draft it as partly due to injury and partly to improve his stock. He has not done the latter by being 4th on the Bears in scoring while averaging fewer rebounds than a year ago. He is never going to be a banger but he has to get more effective closer to the hoop. He and Corey Jefferson and Rico Gathers should form a terrifically productive front line but they all need to step up a little bit more.
Even though Baylor has been struggling I was surprised to see the Jayhawks so heavily favoured. Baylor is one of those teams that teases and I think this line represents an attempt to tease out Baylor action rather than a true line. This should be a good one as the Bears should be a bit desperate.
Kansas
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Kansas was looking a little lost in the nonconference part of their schedule but a light has gone on since B12 play started. They have won all four of their conference games including ones over highly thought of Iowa State and Oklahoma State, a nail biter on Saturday night. It is looking again like the Jayhawks are the team to beat in the B12. Betting against them now is at your own risk.
In the win over OSU phenom Andrew Wiggins had his worst game of his young career. Showing the depth of the program it was oft maligned PG Naadir Tharpe that was the hero, leading the team with 23 points while just one shot (a three pointer) for the entire game. Against Baylor they are going to need their bigs to stand tall as the Bears have lots of length and feature their bigs as scoring options the way few teams do these days.
Kansas has not been a good bet this season overall but they have covered the number in 3 of 4 league games. As expressed above this number seems a little generous for a team that although winning has been pretty underwhelming most of the season. The Jayhawks are capable of blowing out any team but we have not seen much of that thoughout the season.
Spread Pick: Baylor +10.5
O/U Pick: N/A
Score Prediction: Kansas 77 – Baylor 71
