Baylor at Kansas: 2021-22 college basketball game preview, TV schedule
By Joey Loose
Baylor and Kansas come together for a huge Big 12 matchup; can the Bears get the big win on the road or will the Jayhawks prevail?
TV schedule: Saturday, February 5, 4:00 pm ET. ESPN
Arena: Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kansas
Baylor (19-3) enters a hostile road environment, hoping to get back on track after last weekend’s loss at Alabama. The defending national champions have played excellent ball this season and were the final unbeaten team in college hoops. While January did bring them some losses, this still looks like a championship-level team, especially at their best.
The new faces have been extremely important this year for Baylor, led by junior guard James Akinjo (13.6 ppg, 5.6 apg), who just had 25 points in their win this week over West Virginia. They played well against the Mountaineers even without junior guard Adam Flagler (12.7 ppg, 3.5 apg) and sophomore guard LJ Cryer (13.9 ppg, 1.6 rpg), though they’ll hope to get those two back in the fold very soon. We haven’t even mentioned senior guard Matthew Mayer (9.8 ppg, 4.7 rpg), a budding star on a star-filled roster.
Baylor currently sits 8th in the AP Top 25, 3rd in the KenPom ratings, and 5th in the NET rankings. Their offense sits in the top five nationally in offensive efficiency, emerging as one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the nation. The Bears look like a potential top seed in the NCAA Tournament again, and their 7-2 mark in a very tough Big 12 is very respectable halfway through the slate. They know that this game might be the most challenging of the entire conference season.
Across the court, Kansas (18-3) sits atop the Big 12 standings and will look to make a statement against the Bears in this big-time matchup. The Jayhawks have played solid ball most of the season before getting pounded by Kentucky at home last weekend. While they bounced back to get a great road win at Iowa State this week, knocking off Baylor would feel even better.
Impressively, that win over the Cyclones came without superstar guard Ochai Agbaji (20.9 ppg, 4.9 rpg), a certain candidate for the national player of the year awards. Another big name to watch on Saturday is junior guard Christian Braun (15.1 ppg, 5.7 rpg), a dynamic scorer for these Jayhawks. There’s a lot of talent on this roster, but don’t underestimate senior forward David McCormack (9.0 ppg, 6.8 rpg) who had 14 points and 14 rebounds in that win over the Cyclones.
At the moment, Kansas is ranked 10th in the AP Top 25, 10th in KenPom, and 9th in the NET rankings. The Jayhawks have played like an elite team all season and a win over the Bears would certainly help raise their stock as we near March. The Jayhawks’ offense might be even better than the Bears and they are one of the best at interior offense in the nation.
This Baylor team is fantastic at forcing turnovers, meaning the Jayhawks will need to take care of the basketball. This game will depend a lot on the status of Agbaji, Flagler, and Cryer, but assuming they all play this will be one fantastic basketball game. The Bears’ defense has been struggling the last few games and they’ll have to lock down, especially in the interior against these slashing forwards.
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It’s easy to expect Kansas to hold serve at home, but after last week’s brutal loss to Kentucky, it certainly looks like Baylor can pull this upset. However, this game depends on who’s available, as a missing player could greatly swing the momentum either way. Overall, these are two very well-matched teams that might just give us a classic this Saturday afternoon. We’ll lean towards the home team, especially with Baylor’s recent run of trouble.