Jayhawks Visit Mountaineers In Matchup Of Big 12’s Best, Worst

West Virginia (14-11, 3-9) has struggled, coming into this one on a two-game losing streak, including Monday’s loss on the road to the Kansas State Wildcats. The Mountaineers are at the bottom of the Big 12 standings, trailing the eighth-place Iowa State Cyclones and Oklahoma Sooners by a half-game.

If you want to bet online on this contest, the college basketball lines have the Jayhawks as 4½-point favorites on the road, with the over/under set at 145. A moneyline bet gets you Kansas at -200 or West Virginia at +170.

A Full Game

The Jayhawks have been winning for the most part over the last few weeks, but they haven’t been winning easily, with five wins by single digits in their last six before Monday’s win over the Oklahoma State Cowboys. That’s why coach Bill Self was pleased with the effort of his club in beating the Cowboys by 14, though, as usual, he found something for his team to work on.

“It was nice not having to sweat,” Self said after Monday’s win. “I don’t think we played great, by any stretch, but I thought we were pretty good. We weren’t very good the first 12 minutes.”

Now the Jayhawks get a Mountaineers team that they beat by 26 when the two teams matched up in mid-January in Lawrence. West Virginia is struggling, but Self knows that Bob Huggins’ squad is going to bring the intensity in this one, especially on the defensive end.

A lot of the defensive attention will be on guard Ochai Agbaji, who leads the Big 12 in scoring at 19.9 points per game. Agbaji is also averaging 5.2 rebounds and 1.6 assists while shooting 50.1% from the floor, including 43.5% from 3-point range.

Guard Christian Braun will also be key to beating the Mountaineers. Braun is averaging 15.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 3.0 assists, but it’s his defense that could disrupt the West Virginia plans. Braun is averaging a team-best 1.1 blocks while also recording 1.1 steals per game.

Forward Jalen Wilson had a big game in the first meeting, finishing with a season-high 23 points along with eight rebounds and five assists. Wilson can mix it up on the interior, which will be needed against the Mountaineers.

Difficult Run

West Virginia was 2-1 in conference play when it faced Kansas the first time, but it has gone 1-9 (including a non-conference loss to Arkansas) since then. The Mountaineers are coming off a game against Kansas State in which they led by seven at halftime but were outscored by 12 after the break, showing the inconsistency the team has shown in games.

The first matchup with Kansas was much the same, as the halftime score had the Jayhawks up just two before they outscored the Mountaineers 52-28 in the second half. The West Virginia defense just didn’t do the job, with Kansas hitting 51.4% from the floor and attempting just nine free throws, which shows how easy it was able to get shots against the typically physical Mountaineers.

Guard Taz Sherman is second in the Big 12 in scoring at 18.6 points per game, and he also leads the Mountaineers with 2.5 assists per contest. Sherman is one of four West Virginia players averaging at least a steal a game, recording 1.5 per contest.

Guard Malik Curry had a season-high 23 points in the first matchup with the Jayhawks, but he’s been inconsistent with his scoring output, averaging 8.1 points per game. In his last six games, he’s scored in double-digits three times, but in the other three games, he has a total of two points.

Jayhawks Roll

This is an amazingly small point spread for the current fortunes of these teams. The Mountaineers are definitely a different team at home — recording an 11-3 record this season — but Kansas should have too much firepower for this to be close down the stretch.

When doing your college basketball betting, take Kansas to win and cover on the road.

Pick: Kansas Jayhawks -4½