The 14th-seeded UC Santa Barbara Gauchos (27-7) meet the No. 3 Baylor Bears (22-10) in an NCAA Tournament first-round game in Denver Friday. The contest at Ball Arena will tip off at 1:30 p.m. ET (TNT). Below, we analyze Tipico Sportsbook’s lines around the UC Santa Barbara vs. Baylor
odds, and make our expert college basketball picks, predictions and bets.
UC Santa Barbara swept the regular-season and tournament titles in this season’s Big West Conference play. UCSB sported that league’s most efficient offense, averaging 72.2 points per game. The Gauchos are a good shooting team and one that takes care of the ball and frequently totes it to the free-throw line. They enter this game on a 7-game win streak.
Baylor lost it regular-season finale and Big 12 Tournament opener and is just 2-4 in its last 6 games. The 11th-ranked Bears have struggled with their 2-point shooting over that stretch while their 3-point shooting (40.6% on 26.7 attempts per game over those 6 games) has continued to be Baylor’s bread and butter.
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