There is something to be said about being one of the eight teams to make the Quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament your first year in the conference. And now, the Bearcats have another opportunity tonight to take down a top 25 team in the Big 12 Tournament when the Bearcats take on No. 3 seed Baylor in the Big 12 Quarterfinals tonight here in Kansas City. Win a third game in three days, and this program will have serious momentum. Here are my Players to Watch and other elements to watch for tonight against Baylor.
What’s Happened with Baylor since January 13th: That’s the last time the Bearcats and Bears faced off. In fact, Wes Miller talked about how not facing a team for a lengthy period of time can create a different dynamic in preparation especially in a consecutive-day tournament like the Big 12 Tournament. Since beating the Bearcats 62-59 on January 13th, Baylor has gone 8-7 in their last 15 games to finish third in the Big 12 at 11-7 in Big 12 play. They split with Kansas and Texas, lost three overtime games including a triple overtime marathon with TCU, earned a huge win at home over Iowa State in which Iowa State’s game-winning three was waved off and they took No. 1 Houston to overtime in Waco. But make no mistake, this is a well-rounded, talented, well-coached basketball team. I think it’s easy to say you want Wes Miller to be like Bill Self as a head coach, and that’s fair. But Miller can learn a lot from Scott Drew, the other head coach to win a national championship in the Big 12. Drew is a master tactician. He is great at coaching in games, making adjustments as needed. There’s no question the Bearcats have the personnel to compete with Baylor, but can Wes Miller coach toe-to-toe with Scott Drew? That’s my key question heading into tonight’s matchup.
Players to Watch
1. #4 Ja’Kobe Walter, 6’5″ 195 lbs., Fr., McKinney, Texas, Link Academy (Branson, Missouri)
14.7 pts, 4.5 rebs, 38.2 FG%, 33.9 3-PT FG%, 82.3 FT%, 31.9 mpg
January 13th vs. Cincinnati: 14 pts, 7 rebs, 4-11 FG (1-6 3-PT FG), 5-6 FT, ast.-3 TO, stl, 37 mins
The Big 12 Freshman of the Year, Walter has had an outstanding first season at Baylor. He enters tonight with nine straight double-digit point performances and 13th in the Big 12 in scoring. The McDonald’s All-American was ESPN’s No. 17-rated player in 2022-23.
2. #10 RayJ Dennis, 6’2″, 185 lbs., R-Sr., Plainfield, Illinois, Toledo Transfer
13.5 pts, 3.8 rebs, 49.4 FG%, 36.2 3-PT FG%, 71.7 FT%, 209 ast.-107 TO, 44 stl, 34 mpg
January 13th vs. Cincinnati: 11 pts, 9 ast., 3 rebs, 5-7 FG (1-2 3-PT FG), 2 TO, 2 stl, 38 mins
This is the player I’m worried about and what he can do with the basketball. It’s no surprise that Dennis leads the Big 12 with 209 assists. He was a terrific player at Toledo prior to transferring to Baylor, winning MAC Player of the Year in a unanimous vote where he led the conference with 5.8 assists per game and ranked 10th in the country with a 3.0 assist-to-turnover ratio last season. This season, Dennis is averaging 6.7 assists per game, which ranks eighth in the country. He enters tonight’s game with 10 straight games of five or more assists.
