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The Baylor Bears have suffered through an inconsistent finish to the regular season, and with the Big 12 tournament and March Madness right around the corner, they want to get right. They will have every opportunity to find some rhythm in a matchup this week against the Texas Longhorns.
Baylor is the vastly superior team so even a road affair shouldn’t keep it from being the favorite in this one. While Texas has been a strong program in the past, it has struggled throughout the season and has proven to be no match for the best in the conference.
The Bears are playing for seeding in the Big Dance, so they will have the requisite motivation to come out strong and try to sink Texas early.
At 4 p.m. ET, tune into ESPN for live television coverage of this NCAA basketball game on Saturday, March 4, 2017, at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas.
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Odds at BookMaker.eu
Baylor is 24-6 straight up and 13-14 against the spread. The Bears have played in nine games on the road this season and have covered in five of them. They are 9-12 against the spread as the favorite.
Texas is 10-19 straight up and 14-13-1 against the spread. The Longhorns have hosted 15 teams this season and have covered in eight of those games. Texas is 9-7-1 against the spread as the underdog and will be getting points as the home team in this one.
Transfer Update
Texas standout guard Tevin Mack has been suspended since January and has now been released from his scholarship and allowed to find another team. He was suspended once before this season and also benched for the season opener, so obviously the Longhorns weren’t seeing eye-to-eye with their talented player.
Mack averaged a team-best 14.8 points per game when he was on the court and added 4.8 rebounds, but hadn’t played for a while and won’t be with the team any longer. Texas was a more talented team with Mack on the floor but coach Shaka Smart didn’t feel like keeping him around was the best move for the program.
Key Stat
Five. That’s the number of losses for Baylor in its past nine games, as it has dropped from within the top-5 nationally to outside the top-10. The Bears are still seed as one of the best teams in the country and should be able to compete with anybody on a given night, but has to get back in the groove it found with such a nice start.
Baylor has lost to Kansas twice, Kansas State, Texas Tech and Iowa State recently, but all came by six points or fewer, which is a good sign that nobody blew out the Bears.
Baylor hit a lull but should have no trouble shaking it off and making a nice run in the NCAA Tournament.
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Texas hopes to get back to contender status within the conference in the upcoming years, but for now it is struggling. Baylor will look to end the Longhorns’ season as it has gone for most of it, with another loss.
It helps that Texas gets to play this one in front of its home fans, and that should lead to some energy, but it will be hard to match Baylor’s talent and athleticism.
The Bears may have run into some trouble lately, but it’s nothing to be too alarmed about. Baylor will be able to show in this matchup that it has the ability to easily dispatch undermanned opponents.
The big question for the Bears will be how they fare in the upcoming postseason tournaments, but they should enter the conference tourney feeling good after an easy road win.
College Basketball Odds: Baylor 76, Texas 65
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