Big 12 Tournament 2012: Missouri Will Ride Strong Backcourt to Win over Baylor

The Missouri Tigers (29-4) will ride the brilliant play of their backcourt to a Big 12 tournament title win over the Baylor Bears (27-6) on Saturday night in Kansas City (6:00 PM ET, ESPN).

No. 5 Missouri swept No. 11 Baylor during the regular season, edging them by one point on the road in Waco, Texas before routing them last February at home behind some strong guard play.

The key to Missouri's success this season and past success against Baylor has been the strength and depth of its backcourt, which features two super seniors and a handful of capable ballhandlers and scorers.

Ricardo Ratliffe is the only forward who plays a significant amount of minutes, and that is why the Tigers present so many matchup problems for opposing teams. 

What they lack on the defensive glass they more than make up for in speed and scoring. The rotating five-headed monster of Marcus Denmon (17.7 PPG), Kim English (14.7), Michael Dixon (13.2 PPG), Phil Pressey (9.9 PPG) and Matt Pressey (6.2 PPG) has been deadly this season.

In the most recent February meeting between Missouri and Baylor, the five guards combined for 63 of the Tigers' 72 points, and dropped in 14 three-pointers all together. They were responsible for 49 of Missouri's 89 points on the road back January, but Ratliffe poured in a team-high 27 as well.

It has been the superb play of the Missouri backcourt all year long that has the Tigers one win away from their first Big 12 championship since 2009, and likely a No. 1 seed in this month's NCAA tournament. 

Three of their four losses have come on the road, and they are 4-0 this season on neutral courts, meaning they will be tough to beat on a neutral floor this March.

In their two wins thus far in the Big 12 tournament, Missouri has ridden their backcourt to back-to-back crushing wins over Oklahoma State and Texas, with their five guards outscoring the Cowboys by themselves on Thursday. 

The Tigers have a clear identity moving forward, and that is to win with speed and scoring rather than size and intimidation. It has worked 29 times already this season, and the 30th time will no doubt be a charm on Saturday night against Baylor.