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No college basketball team has been affected by COVID more than the Baylor Bears, yet they keep winning. Back on the court after three weeks and five shuttered games, the Bears were expectedly sluggish against woeful Iowa State. It took some time to get their legs and once they did they emerged with a 77-72 victory, the closest game BU has played all season. It was good to get a run in since the next stop is the Phog for a matchup with the Kansas Jayhawks on Saturday.
Baylor Bears at Kansas Jayhawks
Date and Time: Saturday, February 27, 2021, 8 p.m. ET
Location: Allen Fieldhouse, Lawrence, KS
Opening College Basketball Odds: (Check Back Later)
Baylor at Kansas TV Coverage: ESPN
Odds Analysis
Just how good are the Baylor Bears? Coming off a three-week hiatus they were positioned as a 24-point favorite against Iowa State. Maybe the Cyclones are that bad. The Bears won the game 77-72 improving to 18-0 overall and 10-0 in Big 12 play. They actually have one less victory than Kansas in league play but they’ve also played seven fewer games overall. Five games were postponed or canceled just during their recent break. They failed to cover the lofty spread against ISU falling to 13-5 ATS for the season. One of those ATS losses was to Kansas in mid-January. Laying 8.5-points the Bears won by eight 77-69 in Waco. Kansas had its five-game winning streak snapped by Texas on Tuesday, 75-72, in overtime. After dropping out of the national rankings for the first time in over a decade, the Jayhawks promptly jumped right back in going 5-0 SU and ATS.
Baylor Bears
At least the Bears eased into their schedule after a three-week break. Iowa State entered Tuesday’s game with just two wins on the season and none in Big 12 play. That was enough for the Bears to be positioned as a 24-point favorite. While they got the win the rust was evident. The Bears regrouped for their first full practice in weeks on Sunday and Scott Drew figured it might take some time for his team to hit its groove. They fell behind by 17 points in the first half and never led until over four minutes remained in the game. They didn’t look like the team that whacked Texas 83-69 three weeks ago before going on hiatus.
So they caught a break playing ISU in their first game back. Who knows what would’ve happened had they played Kansas or West Virginia. The Bears got another break with Thursday’s scheduled game against WVU canceled. That allows Baylor to get some practice time and preparation for the showdown with Kansas. Baylor has won two of the last three meetings getting a 77-69 win last month behind 30 points from leading scorer Jared Butler. The Bears won for the first time ever at the Phog, 67-55, in 2019.
Kansas Jayhawks
This isn’t one of the dominate Kansas teams we’ve seen in the past. Their loss to Texas last time out dropped them to 17-8 overall. Their most losses in a season over the last three decades is 10, and they’ve played a lot fewer games to this point. But one thing this club has done as well as all those others is win at home. The Jayhawks are 10-1 SU and 6-5 ATS at the Phog this season, though they’ll be remembered for that one setback. At the beginning of January they were crushed 84-59 by Texas, their worst home loss under Bill Self.
One thing Kansas can claim is the most Big 12 wins. Their recent five-game winning streak gave them 11 conference victories, one more than Baylor. That doesn’t mean a whole heck of a lot this year though with schedules changing almost weekly. Because of COVID postponements Kansas has played seven more games than Baylor with Saturday’s tilt being the last scheduled game of the regular season.
Bet Baylor at Kansas at BookMaker.eu
With all their weapons Baylor is just a tough team to defend. They have the second-highest scoring offense in the country at over 86 points and they lead all of DI shooting 43.2 percent from deep. They aren’t too shabby defensively, either. The Bears would rather get out and run and that’s on the table now that they’ve worked through their quarantine. They haven’t played a lot of close games this season, so the last outing was a blessing in more ways than one. Look for the offense to pick it up now that they have a game to get up to speed. And I’d hate to be a Kansas defender on Saturday.
College Basketball Score Prediction: Baylor 83, Kansas 75
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- Phil Simon, Gambling911.com
