The Baylor Bears and Texas Longhorns played a good one back on February 1. Texas took a 67-59 decision in a game which really only featured a slightly out of hand score thanks to free throws in the last minute of the game. If this game on Saturday is anywhere near as good as that one was, this will be can't miss TV for college basketball fans.
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SCHEDULING
Both of these teams will have four full days to get ready for this one, as they both played on Tuesday night. However, there's still a question as to how either team will rebound from an emotional win.
Baylor played in a back and forth game against Iowa State which ultimately ended with an overtime win. Neither team led by more than six points until the Bears took control at the end of the OT period, and Lester Medford never left the court in the entire 45 minutes.
Texas was down 16-8 early on against West Virginia on Tuesday night, but it was able to take the lead late in the first half. The Longhorns had to withstand a big rally by the Mountaineers to get back within six, but they did finish the job in spite of the fact that their starters had to come back on the court after the reserves had already come in to mop the game up.
Live bettors will have to make the determination of who will carry momentum forward into this Saturday soiree versus who could just come out flat after such a big 'W'.
KEY MATCHUP
Rico Gathers was the man who kept Baylor in that game a couple weeks ago, and he's the man who's going to be responsible for doing the same thing in this one. If not for foul trouble, we can only imagine what Gathers would've ultimately done against Texas. He put up 20 points and eight boards in just 28 minutes on the floor, and he could end up doing better than that in this one.
With Cameron Ridley still likely at least a week away from returning from his foot injury, Gathers could end up dominating this one. The Longhorns, for all that they've done well with their small lineup on the court, don't have an answer for a double-double machine like Gathers, and if he stays out of foul trouble in this one, 30 points and 15 boards isn't out of the realm of possibility. If that's how this plays out, Texas is as good as dead.
KEY STATS & TRENDS
Texas proved that its loss at Iowa State last weekend wasn't going to define it when it came back to beat up West Virginia on Tuesday. That's now eight covers in nine games for the Longhorns, who could've easily gone south after losing to ISU and Oklahoma in a span of five days.
The Longhorns also played their second straight over game after playing six straight unders starting with the upset of West Virginia on January 20 in Morgantown.
Baylor, a team which is generally thought of as an over side by nature, has played four straight games past the total. The offense though, has been all over the place, scoring 66 and 69 against Texas Tech and West Virginia, while scoring 82 and 100 against Kansas State and Iowa State respectively.
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Mobile betting lines are updated by the minute, so click here to start gambling on thrilling live action at BookMaker Sportsbook! The matchup between the Baylor Bears and Texas Longhorns will go down Saturday, February 20, 2016 at 2:00 p.m. ET at the Frank Erwin Special Events Center. The matchup will be televised live on ESPN.
