Big Monday brings us a marquee game in the Big 12 between the no. 10 Kansas Jayhawks and the no. 23 Texas Longhorns. The game will give the Jayhawks a chance to extend their lead atop the Big 12 standings. On the road, Kansas is favored by one point, with the over/under set at 134.5 points.
The Longhorns seemed to have hit a rough patch in January but appear to be out of it now. Texas has won four of its last five games, including an emphatic 63-41 win over Iowa State on Saturday. However, the Longhorns are still 2.5 games behind Kansas in the Big 12 standings, so they need to win this game if they want to make a push for the Big 12 title.
As for the Jayhawks, they’ve won seven of their last eight games, with their only loss during that stretch coming outside of the conference against Kentucky. Kansas was equally impressive over the weekend, knocking off Baylor by 24 points. Bill Self’s team is now 19-3 overall and 8-1 in the Big 12, 1.5 games ahead of their closest competitor.
Star Power
The Jayhawks are led by two of the best players in the Big 12 in Ochai Agbaji and Christian Braun. Agbaji is averaging 20.8 points per game while shooting close to 46% from the three-point range. Braun, meanwhile, is averaging 15.2 points per game and is coming off a double-double against Baylor.
Of course, the key for Kansas is the play of the frontcourt with David McCormack and Jalen Wilson. Outside of the Kentucky game, McCormack has finally started to play up to his potential with three double-doubles in his last seven games. Wilson has also become more consistent, averaging 14.2 points per game over his last seven games despite only scoring 9.2 points per game on the season.
Coming in Waves
While Kansas has star power, Texas is more a strength-in-numbers team. Utah transfer Timmy Allen has been their best player for most of the season, leading the team in both scoring and rebounds. However, his been held to single digits in three straight games, forcing other forwards like Christian Bishop, Dylan Disu, and Tre Mitchell to assume larger roles.
Meanwhile, the Longhorns can be as good as their guard trio of Andrew Jones, Courtney Ramey, and Marcus Carr allow them to be. Texas has struggled to get all three playing well at the same time this season despite all three being experienced and talented guards. Saturday’s game against Iowa State was the closest Texas has come to getting all three on track at the same time, and it was arguably their best game of the season.
Flip a Coin
The spread is almost meaningless in this game, and both teams are playing some of their best basketball of the season right now. The only edge in this game might come from the Longhorns being at home and perhaps having a little more depth. That’s enough to take a chance on Texas to beat the Jayhawks on Monday night.
100% up to $3,000 Bonus
Bovada is our most recommended ONLINE CASINO and POKER ROOM for US players with excellent deposit options. Get your 100% signup bonus today.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.