Baylor at West Virginia Spread, Betting Pick & TV Info

Posted by Michael Hunt on Monday,January 9, 2017 2:21, EDT in

The new polls haven’t been released in college basketball as of this writing. But the Baylor men’s basketball team should be No. 1 in them for the first time in school history. Baylor is one of just two unbeatens left along with Gonzaga. The Bears’ stay atop the polls could be short as they have a real tough Big 12 game Tuesday at No. 7 West Virginia. Wouldn’t surprise me if the Mountaineers were favored on college football odds.

Baylor at West Virginia Spread, Betting Pick & TV Info

When: Tuesday, Jan. 10, 7 PM ET
Where: WVU Coliseum, Morgantown
TV: ESPN2
Stream: WatchESPN
Radio: Baylor / West Virginia
Opening NCAA Basketball Lines: TBA

Why Bet On Baylor?

Baylor is off to a 15-0 start to the season and has arguably the best resume including wins over Louisville, Xavier and Michigan State. But over the past decade, the longest winning streak for a first-time No. 1 is four games. Seven programs (Villanova, Gonzaga, Texas, Louisville, Pittsburgh, Tennessee, Wisconsin) over the past 10 seasons managed to earn the No. 1 ranking for their first time ever. Five of those programs fell off the top spot from road losses. (The other two losses happened on neutral courts in the NCAA tournament.)

Baylor comes off a 61-57 home win over Oklahoma State. With Johnathan Motley recording 13 points and 10 rebounds and Manu Lecomte hitting 17 points, the Bears improved to 3-0 in the Big 12 by winning a brutal, physical game Saturday night against an Oklahoma State team that did everything it could to slow down the pace.

The Cowboys (10-5, 0-3) made it difficult for the Bears as they went into halftime with a 30-25 lead and opened up a 38-31 lead early in the second half. But Terry Maston helped the Bears rally by nailing three shots to pull into a 40-40 tie. Maston delivered a tremendous performance off the bench with 11 points and five rebounds.

“As I shared with the players, not many people get a chance to be ranked No. 1 and that’s a great honor,” Baylor coach Scott Drew said. “Baylor Nation deserves it because they helped us get here. We’re glad to make them proud and happy and it gave them something to be excited about. But big picture, we know no one is going to remember who is ranked No. 1 the first week of January.”

It is the first time BU has been 1 of only 2 undefeated teams left in the country. In 2011-12, BU was 1 of 3 remaining unbeaten teams when it lost. Baylor’s 15-0 start is the second-best start in program history, trailing only the 17-0 start in 2011-12. The Bears’ 15-game win streak is the 2nd-longest in program history. The only longer streak was the 2011-12 start. Baylor is 6-0 when trailing at half and has out-scored all five teams by at least 9 points after the break. It has won 14 of its 15 this season by at least 3 points.

Why Bet On West Virginia?

WVU (13-2) comes off an 82-70 win over TCU. Daxter Miles Jr. scored 22 points and Jevon Carter banged in three critical 3s during a key stretch late in the second half. In a battle of two 12-2 teams both looking to go 2-1 in Big 12 play, the game boiled down to the final 9:47 when West Virginia outscored the Horned Frogs 25-13.

“They’re a whole lot better than they were a year ago,” said West Virginia coach Bob Huggins, whose WVU teams are now 10-0 against the Horned Frogs since the two schools joined the Big 12. “They keep coming at you.”

TCU, which trailed by as many as 13 points in the first half, and then again by 11 with 13:12 remaining, used a 15-4 run to tie the game at 57 following a Desmond Bane layup with 9:47 to go. But Miles answered with a layup and Sagaba Konate followed with a traditional three-point play when he was fouled by Vlad Brodziansky while scoring near the basket. Konate’s free throw pushed West Virginia’s advantage to 62-57. West Virginia used an 18-9 run over the remaining six minutes by holding the Horned Frogs to just three field goals during that stretch of time.

West Virginia is 112-30 at the WVU Coliseum under Huggins, including a 56-26 mark in league games. WVU is 521-150 all-time at the WVU Coliseum and 153-36 at the WVU Coliseum in the last 13 seasons. WVU’s average margin of victory at home last year was +22.4. WVU averaged 83.3 points per game at home last year. Under Huggins at the WVU Coliseum, WVU is averaging 80.7 ppg while holding its opponents to 61.4 ppg. The Mountaineers have won 70 of their last 99 conference games at the WVU Coliseum.

WVU’s win at No. 6 Virginia earlier this season was its first over a Top 10 team in a true non-conference road game since winning at No. 5 Kentucky on Dec. 20, 1957. WVU leads the country in scoring margin (29.9), turnover margin (14.0), turnovers forced (24.8) and steals (13.1). WVU ranks sixth in offensive rebounds (15.7), fifth in scoring offense (90.7), fifth in assists (18.6) and 15th in scoring defense (60.8).

Baylor at West Virginia Betting Pick: Baylor Bears

WVU was 2-0 vs. Baylor last year, winning the home game 80-69. Miles had 20 points. I like WVU here as well in NCAA Basketball betting.