Baylor vs BYU Odds, Picks and Predictions: Deep Ball Comes Up Huge

Another day, another marquee matchup in the Big 12, as the 11th-ranked Baylor Bears hit the road for a date with the 25th-ranked BYU Cougars.

Offense should be the name of the game here, as BYU ranks first in scoring in the conference at 83.4 points per game, followed by the Bears, who average 83.

Baylor is set as a three-point road underdog in the college basketball odds, as the Cougars are a healthy 13-2 at the Marriott Center this season.

As these teams jockey for valuable conference tournament seeding, read below for my free Baylor vs BYU college basketball picks on Tuesday, February 20.

Baylor vs BYU best odds

Baylor vs BYU picks and predictions

The BYU Cougars enter this one sitting seventh in the Big 12 with a 6-6 record, looking up at five other Top-25 teams and the unranked TCU Horned Frogs.

BYU has yo-yo’d in conference play, unable to put together more than two consecutive wins but also never losing more than two in a row. Their latest was a 93-83 loss at Oklahoma State, snapping a modest two-game win streak.

The Cougars go as their offense goes, ranking eighth in KenPom’s offensive efficiency metric and inside the Top 20 of scoring teams in the nation. BYU doesn’t feature a dominant scorer — as Jaxson Robinson’s 13.8 points per game ranks 15th in the conference, so scoring depth is the key. Five players average double digits, and Richie Saunders (9.4) and Dalin Hall (9.2) are right on the cusp. The Cougars bomb away, ranking second in the nation in 3-point attempts at better than 32 per game, hitting 11.5 per contest, which ranks third.

The Baylor Bears sit alone in third in the Big 12, trailing the sixth-ranked Iowa State Cyclones and second-ranked Houston Cougars.

They’ve ripped off wins in five of their last six, including signature victories over Iowa State, Texas Tech, and Oklahoma. The lone ranked team in this gauntlet that’s stopped them is Kansas, who topped them in a low-scoring 64-61 affair.

Since that loss, they’ve won two straight, including last time out, topping West Virginia 94-81, the 10th time this season they’ve eclipsed the 90-point plateau.

Like BYU, Baylor does it by committee, with Ja’Kobe Walter ranking 10th in the conference in scoring at 14.5 points per game, with four other teammates inside the Top 35, all averaging double-digits. As a result, the Bears are fourth in KenPom's offensive efficiency metric.

This will be the second and final meeting between these teams this season, with Baylor dumping the Cougars 81-72 on January 9. The difference in that one came down to the turnover battle, as BYU coughed it up 14 times to Baylor's five. The Bears converted those into 18 points while narrowly winning the 3-point battle, hitting 10 of 23 vs. the 9-for-24 effort from BYU.

However, BYU will play a crisper game at home. Despite just a 3-3 road record, Baylor should be able to hang, and I think both teams will come close to touching the 80-point plateau in this one.

My best bet: Over 154.5 (-115 at BetMGM)

Baylor vs BYU same-game parlay

Over 155

Jaxson Robinson Over 1.5 made threes

Ja'Kobe Walter Over 14.5 points

+370 at DraftKings

I’m targeting the leading scorers on both sides to build a three-legged SGP, starting with Jaxson Robinson, who is among the top marksmen from deep in the Big 12, hitting 2.4 per game on a sturdy 36.3%. His last outing was a dud, hitting just 1-for-8 from distance, but that’s a good bonus for us, as his make line is a very reachable 1.5 — a number he’s crossed six times in his last nine contests.

Ja’Kobe Walter is coming off a 23-point game against West Virginia, even if it wasn’t his best outing, as he shot a rough 6-for-17 from the field, including a 4-for-14 mark from 3-point range.

He’s been a solid contributor on the road in recent Big 12 play, crossing his 14.5 scoring line in three of his last four away games. Walter also dropped 16 in the last game against BYU on an efficient 6-for-11 shooting. Look for the freshman guard to take the lead for the Bears tonight.

Learn how to bet a same-game parlay with these helpful tips and strategies.

Baylor vs BYU spread and Over/Under analysis

This line opened at a single point, but it’s since lived mostly in the 2.5-3.5-point range before climbing to BYU -4.5 at most books by Tuesday morning.

Baylor is among the top cover teams in the nation, going 15-7-2 against the spread, a record that sits 11th overall in the NCAA. BYU checks in at a respectable 14-11-0 ATS.

With two high-scoring teams in action, the total has gone as high as 157 points but has since settled into the 154.5-155.5 range.

BYU has seen the Over hit in just 12 of 25 games, while Baylor has an Over record of 13-11-0.

Baylor vs BYU betting trend to know

Baylor has won nine of its last 10 night games. Find more college basketball betting trends for Baylor vs. BYU.

Baylor vs BYU game info

Baylor vs BYU key injuries

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