2015 NCAA Tournament Preview: No. 3 Baylor Bears vs. No. 14 Georgia State Panthers

Especially after their head coach Ron Hunter tore his Achilles tendon while celebrating the team’s Sun Belt C0nference championship, people are going to be rooting for the underdog Georgia State Panthers. However, it’s going to be extremely difficult for the West’s No. 14 seed to take down the No. 3 seeded Baylor Bears, who have been on a tear as of late.

The Bears, a team that finished 24-9, won five of its last six games during the regular season before falling to the Kansas Jayhawks during the Big 12 Conference Tournament. They’ve been playing like a team on fire lately, something the Panthers will struggle to handle after facing mostly Sun Belt competition throughout the season.

What to Watch For

The Bears’ starting lineup consists of three All-Big 12 performers, including Taurean Prince, Kenny Chery and Rico Gathers. That trio will team together to create quite the headache for Georgia State, as they’ve done all season long. Especially if Gathers can dominate the glass and Prince can keep the stout Panthers defense no its heels, there’s no telling how successful Baylor can be on Thursday.

However, the Panthers have a few weapons of their own. Kevin Ware, a Louisville transfer known for suffering one of the most gruesome injuries in sports history, is on fire heading into the tournament, coming off an 18-point effort in the Sun Belt championship. Ware will join top scorers R.J. Hunter (the coach’s son) and Ryan Harrow (a Kentucky transfer) to form Georgia State’s own impressive trio.

Look for Ware to attempt to keep his hot streak alive while the Panthers do everything within their power to keep the Bears’ trio of stars in check.

Prediction

Baylor has done nothing but win big games all season long. They downed West Virginia three times, Iowa State twice and Oklahoma once. With a handful of star-caliber players in their lineup, it would seem they should handle the Panthers will no problem. Even though Georgia State hasn’t seen similar competition this season, they’re running like a well-oiled machine right now. It’ll be closer than you think, but Baylor will edge them to move on to the Round of 32.

Baylor 78, Georgia State 76