NCAAB Odds, Pick for Baylor vs Kansas State

Only six of the 15 teams in the Big 12 own winning conference records through three games.

Two of those squads meet at Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan, Kansas, on Tuesday as the Kansas State Wildcats host the Baylor Bears.

The Wildcats are coming off their first league loss by one point at Texas Tech, while the Bears are one of two 3-0 teams in the conference, along with the Red Raiders.

Baylor last won the Big 12 regular season title outright in 2021, and the Bears look to climb that mountain again this season.

Scott Drew’s team is already out to a 3-0 start in the league with wins over Oklahoma State, BYU and Cincinnati. Two of those victories came by less than five points, including the 62-59 squeaker against Cincinnati on Saturday as 6.5-point favorites.

The Bearcats actually led the Bears by seven points with less than 16 minutes remaining in regulation. However, Baylor put together a 28-12 run to take control.

The Bears are the top 3-point shooting team in the country at 43.7%, but they were limited to 5-of-20 from downtown on Saturday. It’s the second time a Big 12 foe has stymied Baylor from deep, as Oklahoma State held the Bears to 2-of-15 on 3-point attempts.

Freshman guard Ja’Kobe Walter leads Baylor by averaging 15.3 points per game, but he's shooting 4-of-16 from 3-point range in Big 12 play.

Former Toledo standout RayJ Dennis is putting up 13.8 points per game, while Langston Love is averaging 15.3 points a contest in three Big 12 games.

Baylor is seeking double revenge after losing a pair of matchups against Kansas State last season. The Bears dropped a 97-95 overtime decision in Waco, followed by a 75-65 setback in Manhattan six weeks later.

Kansas State was on the verge of the Final Four last season before falling to FAU in the Elite Eight. The Wildcats have started 12-4 in Jerome Tang’s second season as head coach, and he squares off with the Baylor team he was an assistant coach at from 2003-2022.

K-State rolled past UCF in its Big 12 opener, 77-52, followed by a 14-point victory at West Virginia. The Wildcats dropped their first conference game in Saturday’s 60-59 defeat at Texas Tech, as K-State squandered a 12-point halftime lead.

Kansas State managed to cover as six-point underdogs, but it was held to its second-lowest point total of the season. In spite of the loss, the Wildcats still hit 10-of-23 3-point attempts, including four treys from Tylor Perry.

Perry’s best game as a Wildcat since transferring from North Texas came in the Big 12 opening win over UCF. Perry drilled six 3-pointers and scored a season-high 25 points, but he's totaled only 22 points in the last two games.

The Wildcats are one of two Big 12 teams who are currently 3-0 against the spread in league play, with TCU also covering every league contest so far.

The major improvement that the Wildcats have made from Tang’s first season to this season is 2-point percentage defense. Last season, K-State allowed opponents to shoot 49.2% on 2-point attempts, but that number has dipped down to 44.8% this season, which is 27th-best in the nation.

This will be a true test, as the Bears rank 44th in the country on 2-point attempts by converting on 54.4% of those shots. However, Baylor sits 10th in the Big 12 on 2-pointers in league action at 50.4%, so the Bears obviously bulked up in non-conference action.

Baylor has revenge on its minds after losing twice to Kansas State last season.

This is a short number to cover on the road following the narrow home win over Cincinnati.

K-State has two wins over two of the weaker offenses in the Big 12 and now faces a Baylor team that's a major step up from an offensive perspective.

Pick: Baylor -2.5 (Play to -3.5)