WVU - Baylor Preview: Bubblicious

Game Day Vitals

• West Virginia Mountaineers (15-11, 7-6 Big XII) vs. Baylor Bears (17-9, 5-8 Big XII)
• Series Record: 1-3, last meeting ended with the "Juwan Staten's Dad" assist in Waco 66-64
• Location: Oliver Garden (Capacity: 14,000) Morgantown, West Virginia
• Vegas Lines: -2.5 for the good guys  
  
• Date: Saturday, February 22nd, 2014, at some arbitrary time around 1:40PM EST
• Television: Big XII Network / ESPN3 / WatchESPN
• Stations carrying the game locally include: MASN (Capital region), PCNC (Pittsburgh), WIYE-My 5 (Parkersburg), WVFX (North Central West Virginia), WQCW (Charleston-Huntington), and WTOV-DT2 (Northern Panhandle).
• Radio Affiliates

Opponent Information

• Baylor Bears (17-9, 5-8 Big XII)
• Head Coach - Scott Drew, 11th year as BU head coach, 194–142 with the Bears
• Last Result - OT win against Oklahoma State in Waco 70-64
• Official Baylor Bears athletics website
• SBN Baylor blog - Our Daily Bears

Game Preview

Scott Drew has seemed to stop the bleeding. Baylor was completely lost when the Mountaineers beat them in Waco. Now, the Bears are on a three game winning streak and grinding out results with huge performances by Cory Jefferson. This squad is just as desperate for wins as WVU is, so the importance of today's game cannot be overstated. The need to contain Jefferson can't be, either. While Brady Heslip has had some big moments this year, he's in a slump right now scoring only 13 points in the last two games. While Isaiah Austin is certainly a force in the middle standing 7-1, the Eers can eliminate this threat by (Staten) driving the lane and getting him into foul trouble.

One very big factor for the Mountaineers will be if Watkins and Williams can stay on the court and out of foul trouble. This has been the Achilles heel for WVU this year and it cannot happen again if they expect to win this one.

It will probably happen again.... but Juwan Staten.

Prediction: BU 65 WVU 73