Men's college basketball game of the week: No. 7 Kansas vs. No. 15 Baylor

The No. 7 Kansas Jayhawks travel to Waco, Texas to take on the No. 15 Baylor Bears.

This will be a much different environment than the Jayhawks are typically used to when traveling to Waco.

Baylor has built and opened a brand new arena that allows fans to essentially be right on top of the court, this allows for a much more hostile environment for one of the top teams in college basketball over the past five years.

It created problems for now-No. 1 Houston, but the Bears couldn’t pull off the upset in its last ranked home matchup.

Kansas is coming off of a home victory to Texas, winning 88-67.

The Jayhawks will play BYU before its matchup Saturday against Baylor.

Baylor, however, has the entire week to prepare for Kansas.

Baylor gets scoring from all aspects of the team. Six players are averaging over double digits.

They are led by star freshman Ja’Kobe Walter. Walter is averaging 14.8 points per game on just under 40 percent shooting. Walter will have to raise that shooting percentage to pull off the upset, based on rankings.

The Bears have three other guards that are averaging over double-digit points per game. RayJ Dennis, Langston Love and Jayden Nunn add to a group of four guards that can all lead the team on any given night.

In the paint, Yves Missi holds it down averaging 11 points per game on 64 percent shooting. The 7-foot freshman will be key in the ranked matchup.

On the other side, Kansas has a clear-cut star on the team. Kevin McCullar Jr. is averaging 19 points per game for the Jayhawks.

However, they have a freshman of their own who is starting to get comfortable in the Jayhawks system.

Johnny Furphy can score in any way and is starting to break out. The 6-foot-9-inch freshman scored 16 points in his last game against Texas.

Furphy has made some highlight-reel dunks but don’t let that fool you. The Melbourne, Australia, native is shooting 39 percent from behind the arc.

These teams' matchups continue to look strong. In the paint for the Jayhawks is Michigan transfer Hunter Dickinson.

Dickinson can score out of the post and stretch out the defense shooting 32 percent from three.

The veteran Dickinson against the freshman Missi will be a major factor in the game. How Missi plays off of the hostile environment could catapult the Bears to victory.

The veteran players for Kansas should not have too much of a problem with a crowd that will be one of if not the loudest they’ve faced. However, the dynamic of the crowd could boost the young Baylor team which sets this game up to be one of the best in the Big 12 season.

Andrew Deal is a first-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, please email asd5765@psu.edu