As the Big 12 schedule continues to progress, Baylor and West Virginia have different reasons to be motivated Tuesday night.
The Big 12 is beginning to prove its worth as a conference despite all the attention being paid to the Big Ten. An example of how fans should be paying more attention is the Tuesday match-up between Baylor Bears and West Virginia Mountaineers. The Bears and Mountaineers will easily rival the excitement that will be provided by the Wisconsin versus Michigan game that the Big Ten has to offer earlier that night.
The primary reason NCAA fans will be paying attention is that the No.2 ranked Baylor Bears will be looking to improve their conference record to 5-0 while remaining undefeated on the season. Coach Scott Drew has coached the Bears to an impressive thirteen point victory over Illinois in early December, but have not played a ranked opponent since.
The Bears come in healthy and being led in points by senior guard MaCio Teague (16 ppg,4.4 rpg) while sophomore forward Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua (9.5 pts, 7.6 rpg) leads them in rebounds with junior guard Davion Mitchell (11.6, 6.4 apg) as their top assist getter. The Bears also boast the conference’s best offense in SEC play with an average of over 83 points per game while holding opponents under 65 points which is the top of the conference as well.
The Mountaineers come into their game versus first place Baylor looking to even their SEC record after their two-point loss to Texas on Saturday. That loss dropped the Mountaineers to 1-3 versus ranked opponents, with their only win coming against a Richmond team who is no longer in the AP Poll.
Head Coach Bob Huggins’ fourth-best SEC offense is led by Miles McBride (15.3 ppg) and Derek Culver (14 ppg, 10.3 rpg). The Mountaineers enter the game healthy, but still adjusting to Oscar Tshiebwe leaving the team. The Mountaineers need a win to remain relevant while the Bears will be looking to continue their winning ways.