The Kansas City Roos and the Baylor Bears meet Tuesday in college basketball action from Ferrell Center. UMKC is currently 2-0 overall. The Roos managed a blowout win over Saint Mary KS in their last outing. As for Baylor, they’re 3-0 this season following a Sunday victory versus Gardner-Webb. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Kansas City Roos
The Roos are off to a good start at 2-0 so far after a couple of relatively easy warmup games. UMKC took on Avila in their opener last Monday, scoring 40 points in the second half for a 79-48 win. Jamar Brown led the team on his 16 points and six rebounds, while Anderson Kopp added 15 points.
Back on Saturday versus Saint Mary KS, the Roos didn’t have too many issues bagging another victory. Kansas City outscored the Spires 57-29 in the first half and waltzed to the victory 95-42. Brown topped the team once again on 18 points, and Kopp provided 12 points with five boards and four assists in a well-rounded game.
Baylor Bears
Over on the Baylor side, they kicked off their season with a tricky matchup against Auburn. The Bears were outscored 43-34 in the first half, but rallied from there in an 88-82 win by shooting 43.3 percent from the field. Game two was another victory, this time 96-70 over John Brown thanks to a 56.2-percent shooting clip and 48 rebounds.
In their latest matchup Sunday versus Gardner-Webb, the Bears entered halftime up 40-34. Baylor spread the gap from there with a 37-28 run and took the win 77-62. Leading the scoring was Ja’Kobe Walter with 14 points and eight rebounds. Jayden Nunn provided 12 points in 21 minutes as well.
ANDREW’S FREE PICK
I’m going to lean toward Baylor in this one. The Bears have three pretty solid wins under their belt so far, even with the slow start versus Auburn in the opener. Since then Baylor has hit their stride against a couple of overmatched teams, capped off with a 47-29 rebounding advantage in the Gardner-Webb win. The Bears have plenty to clean up from that one however, including the ugly 0-for-9 effort from 3-point range and 14 turnovers.
As for Kansas City, they haven’t faced anyone of consequence yet so this will mark a big jump in competition. That said, the Roos have notched a couple of well-rounded efforts so far, with a lot of different players getting some much-needed court time. UMKC may surprise us with an explosive initial effort here, but I don’t think they’ve got the legs to cover.
