The Preview You Must View: Baylor at Kansas
by Nathan Kotisso on Jan 16, 2012 1:14 PM CST
in Big 12 Basketball - 2011-12 Season
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PrintIt's days like today that make the Big 12 the best basketball conference in America in my opinion. It's Big Monday. It's the top two teams in the conference. There's no holding back.
The Baylor Bears come in without a blemish on their record while the Kansas Jayhawks look to start conference play with a 5-0 record.
It'll be a great night in the Phog. More after the jump.
Transition season? The Jayhawks (14-3) have successfully fought off that label thus far. We all know about the great year Thomas Robinson is having but two question marks coming into the season have since been stable forces on the team. Let's start with Jeff Withey. The seldom-used center who didn't do much in 2010-11 is now making the most of his starting spot this year, averaging 7.6 points, nearly six boards and is ranked tenth in the nation with over three blocks a game. I watched him swat six shots in Saturday's win against Iowa State in addition to a double-double.
The other is junior Travis Releford. Just last week, he won Big 12 Player of the Week honors while averaging a league-best 22 points per game. He's shooting 51.8% from the field this year and on the break is one of the quickest I've seen playing in the conference. The fact that these two guys who barely saw the floor and are now productive are proof positive that Bill Self may know more about basketball than anyone else on planet Earth.
The 2011-12 athletic year has been kind to the Baylor Bears (17-0). In addition to men's basketball, the Lady Bears are perfect themselves, a consensus #1 in the country and their football program has their first Heisman Trophy winner.
Despite all of that, history says the Bears are 2-16 all time vs KU including 0-9 at Phog Allen Fieldhouse. But this Baylor team is different than any other. An intriguing battle to look out for is how Robinson and Withey deal with Perry Jones III's athleticism and Quincy Acy's shotblocking ability. They've also been tested on the road, winning at BYU and at Kansas State so getting out of Lawrence with a win is quite possible. After the K-State win, I began wondering if Baylor can actually finish the regular season undefeated. Seriously. Sure it might be ridiculous to think that now only four games into Big 12 play but a win tonight will certainly get the debate going.
KU's playing great ball but I just can't find a reason why Baylor would falter in yet another big game. This Big Monday battle can be seen tonight at 8:30 central on ESPN.
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KU wins
KU wins because this game is Allen Field House. the crowd will be electric and no disrespect to K-state but Bramlage is not allen field house. This will be the first time Perry Jones, Miller, Acy, etc have played in a hostile environement. If they start off slow or sloppy KU will jump all over it. It is tough to come back in that building. If baylor can use its length and athletism to get whithey and robinson in foul trouble Baylor will win. Also the rebound margin will play a big role in this game. should be a classic game.
Good points there but
Baylor won at BYU too. Can’t be easy when their fans pack in 20000+ fans every night. I saw an Iowa State team Saturday that hung with KU for much of the game. Can’t wait for 8:30!
by Nathan Kotisso on Jan 16, 2012 4:47 PM CST via Android app reply actions
wow
That was not even close. KU is too tough at home. I was in that building and no way BU was coming out with a win. Scott Drew made no in game adjustments and baylor tried to win by jump shots instead of pounding it inside. It seemed like they did not take advantage of their athletism at all. Weird to see them struggle so much.
by thenatural14 on Jan 17, 2012 8:59 AM CST up reply actions
It is hard to straight-up beat KU on the inside...
with Robinson and Withy in there. But if you attack inside anyway and get them into foul trouble, it seems to me KU might be vulnerable, because when Robinson and Withy sit down there is a big drop-off in talent in KU’s frontcourt. Kevin Young has played pretty well resting Robinson and Withy but that’s about it for KU big men.
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