Baylor vs. BYU Prediction, Odds and Key Players for Tuesday, Feb. 20 (Back Home Favorite)
By Reed Wallach
The Big 12 marquee matchups keep coming with another big time tilt on Tuesday.
BYU has been humbled in Big 12 play, its first in the best conference in college basketball, but return home to the Marriott Center, where the team has been outstanding all season to host Baylor. These two met back in early January where the Bears scratched out a competitive nine point win.
How should we handle the second meeting? I got you covered with my favorite bet for Tuesday's Big 12 showdown:
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Baylor vs. BYU Odds, Spread and Total
BYU vs. Baylor Betting Trends
- Baylor is 15-8-1 against the spread (ATS) this season
- BYU is 14-11 ATS this season
- Baylor is 3-2 ATS as underdogs this season
- Baylor is 1-4 straight up (SU) this season as an underdog
- BYU is 13-2 SU at home
BYU vs. Baylor How to Watch
- Date: Tuesday, Feb. 20
- Game Time: 9:00 PM EST
- Venue: Marriott Center
- How to Watch (TV): ESPN
- Baylor Record: 19-6
- BYU Record: 18-7
Baylor vs. BYU Key Players to Watch
Baylor
Jalen Bridges: Bridges was impressive in the first meeting, scoring 25 points while draining three 3s en route to the nine point home win. The senior forward will look to to continue his sharp shooting this season at over 40%, but will face a tough road environment at BYU.
BYU
Jaxson Robinson: The Cougars offense continues to get clean looks on offense, but a lot of the team's success comes through Robinson's scoring and the attention he gets from the opposing defenses. He is off a dismal performance against Oklahoma State on the road where he only made four of his 13 shots, and Big 12 play as a whole has been tough for him as he is shooting only 30% from beyond the arc, can he find his form at home?
Baylor vs. BYU Prediction and Pick
Baylor handed BYU a loss early in Big 12, the Cougars' first road game in its new league. While the Cougars have come down to Earth after a sterling nonconference run, I do believe this matchup sets up nicely for the home team to get back on track.
First, Baylor is making a tough road trip after playing on Saturday in Morgantown, West Virginia to play at altitude in Provo, Utah with only two days off. Not only that, but BYU's offense remains a unique prep for Big 12 opponents and has remained above average in the best conference in college basketball.
BYU is still tops in 2-point field goal percentage, able to lift defenses away from the rim and generate easy buckets inside while taking more than half of its shots from beyond the arc (where the team is owed a two percent rise in conference play).
Baylor is also an elite offense, but the team has had some road woes this season, its only road wins coming against Big 12 bottom feeders Oklahoma State, UCF, and West Virginia, the three worst offenses in the conference.
While the Bears have stayed close in road losses against Kansas State, Texas, and Kansas, losing by no more than four points. I believe this is a great landing spot for BYU's defense to get back on track.
Baylor's offense doesn't focus a ton on creating isolation situations, whereas the slow-footed BYU perimeter defense has been exposed in Big 12 play. The Bears rank 332nd in points per possession in iso situations per ShotQuality on the 266th highest frequency. I don't see an explosive Bears offense traveling to Provo given the matchup.
I think we see BYU continue to hum on offense, the team did score 1.06 points per possession and shoot over 49% from the field but couldn't negate Baylor's +14 free throw attempts in the nine-point loss. This time around, I think Cougars win by a few buckets.
Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
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