The West Virginia Mountaineers and the Baylor Bears meet Monday in college basketball action from Ferrell Center. West Virginia is sitting at 15-10 so far. The Mountaineers lost to Texas in their last game. As for Baylor, they’re currently 19-6 after a big win over TCU on Saturday. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
West Virginia Mountaineers
West Virginia managed to start out the season on an 11-7 run across their first 18 games. The Mountaineers are 4-3 in their last seven games with wins over Texas Tech, Auburn, Iowa State and Oklahoma in that stretch.
In the Texas matchup on Saturday, West Virginia was demolished 51-30 in the first half. The Mountaineers didn’t get any closer on a 43-30 second-half run and lost 94-60. Emmitt Matthews led the team on his 13 points and five rebounds.
Baylor Bears
Over on the Baylor side, they managed a better start with a 13-5 run through their first 18 outings. The Bears are 6-1 in their last seven with wins over Oklahoma, Kansas, Arkansas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma again and TCU.
In the TCU game on Saturday, the Bears took a 34-31 deficit into the locker room. Baylor fought back in the second on a 41-34 run and took the comeback win 72-68. Adam Flagler was the leader on 28 points and four assists.
ANDREW’S FREE PICK
I’ll likely lean toward Baylor here. The Bears are coming off a nice road win over a good TCU team on Saturday. Baylor hit 46.3 percent shooting from the floor and 12-of-13 from the line (92.3 percent) in that one but they were also out-rebounded 32-26. These teams last saw each other back on January 11 at WVU Coliseum. The Bears managed an 83-76 win in that one thanks to a solid start and 44.2 percent shooting. If Baylor can get off to a nice first-half run in this one as well, I think they’ll be fine cover-wise.