Baylor Bears vs Kansas Jayhawks Prediction, 1/16/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Baylor Bears vs Kansas Jayhawks

Date: Friday, January 16, 2026

Location: Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, KS

TV: FOX

The Kansas Jayhawks (12-5) will go up against the Baylor Bears (11-5) at Allen Fieldhouse on Friday.

The Baylor Bears faced off with Oklahoma State and earned the victory with a final of 94-79 in their last game. Baylor finished with a 59.3% FG percentage (35 out of 59) and made 13 out of their 25 3-point attempts. When they shot from the free throw line, the Bears knocked down 11 of their 14 attempts for a rate of 78.6%. In reference to pulling down boards, they earned a total of 29 with 8 of them being offensive. They also dished out 18 dimes in this game in addition to forcing the opposition into 9 turnovers and getting 6 steals. When it comes to defense, Baylor allowed 46.3% from the field on 31 out of 67 shooting. Oklahoma State distributed 16 dimes and had 7 steals for the contest. Furthermore, Oklahoma State totaled 28 boards (13 offensive, 15 defensive), but wrapped up the game with no rejections. Oklahoma State shot 58.3% at the free throw line by converting 7 of 12 attempts. They knocked down 10 of their 25 attempts from beyond the arc. When talking about fouls, the Bears ended up finishing with 13 and Oklahoma State finished the game with 12 fouls.

Tounde Yessoufou is one guy who was a major factor in the game. He went 64.7% from the field but had no assists when the time ran out. He was on the hardwood for 31 mins and grabbed 5 boards. He racked up 23 points on 11 of 17 shooting.

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Baylor comes into this contest with a mark of 11-5 for the campaign. They average 88.7 points per outing (18th in D-1) while going 49.7% from the floor. The Bears are hitting 36.6% on shots from 3-point land (137 of 374) and 73.1% from the free throw line. As a team, Baylor is grabbing 40.4 rebounds per contest and is sitting with 277 dimes for the year, which ranks 90th in college in terms of passing the ball. They turn it over 11.7 times per game and as a team they are committing 16.0 personal fouls per game.

On the defensive end, the Bears are forcing 11.8 turnovers per game while drawing 20.2 personal fouls. They are 89th in the country in giving up assists to their opponents with 211 surrendered on the year. The Bears defensively are giving up an opponent FG percentage of 42.0% (438 of 1,043) and they relinquish 33.4 boards per game as a team. They are relinquishing 33.0% on three-point shots and they are ranked 216th in the nation in points per game allowed (74.6).

In their last game, the Kansas Jayhawks walked away with a victory by a final of 84-63 when they faced Iowa State. With respect to rebounding, Kansas allowed Iowa State to snag 31 in total (13 on the offensive side). They finished shooting 33.3% from beyond the arc by connecting on 9 of 27 and finished the game at 6 of 11 from the free throw line (54.5%). The Jayhawks allowed Iowa State to knock down 24 of their 65 attempts from the floor which had them sitting at 36.9% for this contest. When all was said and done, the Jayhawks walked away from this one shooting 31 out of 61 from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 50.8%. When it comes to three-point shots, Kansas made 12 of 24 attempts (50.0%). They were able to bury 10 of those for a rate of 83.3%. Iowa State was called for 13 personal fouls for this contest which took the Jayhawks to the free throw line for a total of 12 attempts. They gave up possession 8 times, while recording 8 steals in this contest. The Jayhawks recorded 26 defensive rebounds and 10 offensive rebounds totaling 36 in the matchup.

Tre White ended up being a factor for the Jayhawks for this game. He tallied 19 points in his 35 minutes of playing time and had 3 assists for the game. He converted 6 out of 13 for the game for a field goal percentage of 46.2%, and had 10 rebounds.

Kansas has a win-loss mark of 12-5 on the season. The Jayhawks commit 14.8 fouls per contest and they go 75.5% from the charity stripe. Their rate of dishing out assists is at 15.1 times per contest (136th in college) and they are turning it over 10.6 times per game. Kansas has accounted for 1,324 points on the year (77.9 per contest) and they average 39.3 rebounds per game. As an offensive team, the Jayhawks are shooting 46.9% from the field, which ranks 107th in the nation.

The Kansas defense gives up 28.2% on shots from beyond the perimeter (131 of 464) and their opposition knocks down 65.6% of their free throw shots. They concede 11.7 dimes and 35.9 total rebounds per game, which ranks them 57th and 260th in D-1. The Jayhawks on defense are ranked 50th in college hoops in PPG surrendered with 67.8. They have forced 9.8 turnovers on a nightly basis and have allowed teams to shoot 38.3% from the floor (8th in college).

Who will win tonight's NCAA game against the spread?

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Baylor

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