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Kansas Jayhawks at West Virginia Mountaineers Betting Preview

If you’re a college basketball fan, your Wednesday plans have to include watching when No. 3 Kansas faces No. 14 West Virginia. On the road, Kansas is a 1.5-point favorite with an over/under of 134.5 points.

This is one of the rare years when the Jayhawks aren’t able to sleepwalk to another Big 12 regular-season title. Despite being 9-1 in Big 12 play, Kansas remains 1.5 games behind first-place Baylor, so there is no margin for error if the Jayhawks want to win another conference title.

The good news is that Kansas is 20-3 overall, riding an eight-game winning streak, and in line for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament if it can finish strong.

As for West Virginia, the Mountaineers are a lock for the Big Dance but hoping to bounce back quickly from a loss to Oklahoma over the weekend. They’ve now lost two of their last four to drop to 6-4 in league play and 18-5 overall. On the bright side, the Mountaineers are perfect at home this season.

D-Fence

The Mountaineers have hung their hat on the defensive end all season. Like most Bob Huggins teams, West Virginia gets after it on the defensive end, with this year’s Mountaineers being better than most years.

On the season, West Virginia is allowing under 62 points per game, which isn’t bad in a conference that figures to get at least a handful of teams in the NCAA Tournament. Just two teams have been able to crack 70 points against the Mountaineers in their last 15 games.

Of course, West Virginia will need to do some damage on the offensive end if it expects to beat Kansas. While the Mountaineers have a pair of big men who average over 10 points per game in Oscar Tshiebwe and Derek Culver, their backcourt leaves something to be desired.

They are barely shooting 30 percent from the perimeter this season, while everyone on the roster averages less than two assists per game, meaning West Virginia has no true floor general.

Double Trouble

The Jayhawks continue to be led by the tandem of Devon Dotson and Udoka Azubuike. Dotson has failed to reach double figures just once this season, as he continues to perplex Big 12 defenses with his ability to score in a variety of ways.

He’s also coming off an 18-point, 11-assist double-double against TCU, and he does it all for Kansas. Meanwhile, Azubuike remains a monster in the paint, averaging 13 points and just under 10 rebounds per game.

It’s also worth noting that the Kansas defense allows the eighth-fewest points in the country, barely 60 per game. Azubuike is a big part of that, averaging 2.6 blocks per game, which intimidates opponents and keeps them out of the paint.

Meanwhile, Dotson averages just over two steals per game, giving the Jayhawks extra possessions and easy points in transition.

First Time for Everything

West Virginia faded late when it played Kansas earlier this season, getting outscored by 13 points in the second half. The Mountaineers will again put up a fight, but they don’t have the scorers to spring the upset, even at home. Bet on Kansas to win and cover the 1.5-point spread.

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