Baylor Bears at Texas Longhorns
The Baylor Bears try to follow up a win over the Kansas Jayhawks when they hit the road to face the in-state rival Texas Longhorns in a key Big 12 matchup on Monday night. Baylor is a half-game behind Kansas for the top spot in the conference standings, while Texas is in fourth place in the league.
The defending national champion Bears defeated the Longhorns by 17 when the two played just over two weeks ago and are on a three-game winning streak. Texas comes into this one having won two straight, including a one-point victory over West Virginia on Saturday.
Baylor at Texas Stats
Looking at the Baylor Bears Stats
After Saturday’s win, Baylor is 21-6 against ranked teams over the last three seasons, including a 12-4 mark away from home. The Bears have won 16 of their last 19 games away from home, going 9-0 on neutral floors and 7-3 in true road games.
Baylor got career-high scoring efforts from Flo Thamba (18 points) and Jeremy Sochan (17) in the come-from-behind win over Kansas. The Bears had a 37-game streak of forcing at least 10 turnovers snapped, forcing just five against the Jayhawks.
Guard Adam Flagler has been the Bears’ leading scorer this season, averaging 13.7 points and shooting 39.1 percent from three-point range. He’s going to need to do even more with second-leading scorer LJ Cryer still sidelined with a foot injury. Guard James Akinjo is another dynamic guard who can take over a game with his shooting, as he’s averaging 12.9 points while dishing out a team-best 5.7 assists per contest.
The Bears are the second-highest scoring team in the conference at 77.2 points per game, but Texas is the top defensive team, holding opponents to just 58.8 points per contest.
Looking at the Texas Longhorns Stats
The Longhorns have had to rally from double-digit deficits in the second half of each of the last two games, coming back from 10 behind with just over 10 minutes to play against the Mountaineers on Saturday. Texas is looking to improve to 4-1 at home against Top 25 opponents this season.
Overall, Texas is 16-2 at home this season, outscoring opponents by 17.8 points per game. Forward Timmy Allen had a season-high 26 points in the win over West Virginia, adding 10 rebounds and two blocks.
Allen leads the Longhorns in scoring at just 12.4 points per game. The Utah transfer is also pacing the team with 6.5 rebounds per contest. Senior guards Andrew Jones and Marcus Carr are each averaging 11.1 points per game, with Carr leading the way with 3.2 assists per game.
There is not a lot of height for Longhorns, with no player on the roster standing taller than 6-9. Texas is ninth in the Big 12 in defensive rebounding, which isn’t a good thing against a Baylor squad that is second in the conference in offensive rebounding.
Betting Trends for Baylor at Texas
- Texas is 10-19 against the over/under this season, though it has gone over in four of its last five outings.
- Baylor has covered the spread in 82.8 percent of its games this season.
- Both teams win big, with the Bears’ average winning margin being 19 points and the Longhorns’ 17.8.
- Baylor is 4-1 ATS in its last four games playing Texas.
- Texas is 2-4 ATS in its last six games when playing as the underdog.
Baylor at Texas Prediction
The top sportsbooks odds are making the Bears a 1.5-point favorite on the road. Baylor is getting healthier, which has been its biggest problem this season after a 15-0 start. The defending champions are looking more like the team that won the title a season ago, which is bad news for the rest of the Big 12.
Texas is a tough defensive team, but Baylor is relentless on both ends of the floor and should come away with the victory in this one, covering the small-point spread.
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