College Basketball Pick: #21 West Virginia Mountaineers at Baylor Bears

The #21 West Virginia Mountaineers travel to play the unranked Baylor Bears at 7 p.m. E.T. at the Ferrell Center in Waco, TX. West Virginia is third in the Big 12 and 2.5 games behind conference leading Kansas. The Bears are fourth in the Big 12 and one game in back of WVU. These are two high-scoring teams, which explains the relatively high, but not overly so, over/under of 141.5. Our West Virginia visits Baylor 2018 NCAA basketball Big 12 pick has the Mountaineers favored by 1.5 points.

Recent History

West Virginia has struggled as of late, winning just four of their last 10 games. Their last game was on Feb. 17. On that night, they were defeated by #13 Kansas 77-69. Kansas also beat the Mountaineers 71-66 on Jan. 15. The Bears, who have won five games in a row, beat the #10 Kansas Jayhawks 80-64 on Feb. 10 and the #7 Texas Tech Red Raiders 59-57 on Feb. 17. Baylor lost to #2 West Virginia on Jan. 9 by a score of 57-54.

Matchup

Baylor is hitting 47.2% of its field goals, while WVU is struggling at 43.4%. The Mountaineers are outscoring the Bears 80.5 to 76.4 PPG, while both teams are holding opponents to 68 PPG. Rebounds, assists, and blocked shots are just about even, but West Virginia tops Baylor in steals 8.4 to 5.1.

Players to Watch

The Mountaineers need senior guard Jevon Carter (16.9 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 6.8 APG) to play his game to the hilt tonight. He’s a 41% field goal shooter and is putting in 38% of his threes. Carter has 3.1 steals per game. Sophomore forward Sagaba Konate is grabbing 7.9 RPG and blocking 3.2 shots per game while scoring 10.4 PPG. He’s shooting 52% from the field. Forward Lamont West and guard Daxter Miles Jr., both upperclassmen, are fine shots and important contributors.

For the Bears, senior guard Manu Lecomte (16.5 PPG, 3.5 APG, 41 FG%) is tops in points and assists per game. Senior forward Jo Lual-Acuil Jr. (14.2 PPG, 9.2 RPG, 51 FG%) is a very tough offensive and defensive force in the paint. Terry Maston, a senior forward, is good for 10.6 PPG and 5.7 RPG. Maston is an accomplished shooter, knocking in 53% of his attempts.

Our West Virginia Visits Baylor 2018 NCAA Basketball Big 12 Pick

Handicappers expect this to be a close one with some decent scoring. First, we are taking the over at 141.5. In our West Virginia visits Baylor 2018 NCAA basketball Big 12 pick, we like the Bears at +1.5. We do think that they will bring their A-game to the court tonight.

Summary West Virginia at Baylor Picks- Bears at +1.5 and over 141.5