Kansas State Wildcats at Kansas Jayhawks Betting Preview

Kansas State has made a tremendous amount of progress since starting the Big 12 0-4 in league play. The Wildcats, who are now 14-12 overall and 6-8 in Big 12 play, have won four of their past six games, with one of their losses during that string coming in overtime. No. 5 Kansas has been consistently excellent in league play, having won three straight to improve to 22-4 and 11-2 in Big 12 play.
While the two Kansas teams aren’t close on paper this season, the Jayhawks struggled to put away Kansas State in Manhattan earlier this season, only winning by three points. But this Sunflower Showdown may go different this time around now that the game is in Lawrence.
Kansas State Wildcats Betting Preview
The Wildcats may still be left wondering what happened if the first meeting between the two teams went the other way. Kansas State lost a 17-point lead in the second half en route to a 78-75 loss to Kansas. Sophomore Nijel Pack had a career day in the first meeting, shooting 12-of-18 from the field en route to 35 points.
Things have gone poorly for the Wildcats this year in part due to the fact they’ve only had six games where they had all their scholarship players available. Kansas State has needed to rely on its defense to stay in games.
The Wildcats rank third nationally in 3-point field goal percentage defense, limiting opponents to 27.8 percent shooting from the perimeter. Opponents only score 65 points per game against Kansas State.
Kansas Jayhawks Betting Preview
Kansas enters the game holding a two-game edge in the race for the Big 12 title and will look to sweep their in-state rivals. The Jayhawks lead the Big 12 in scoring offense, averaging 79.2 points per game, while they are sixth nationally in field goal percentage, shooting 49.2 percent.
Senior Ochai Agbaji leads the Big 12 in scoring at 20 points per game and is 10th nationally by knocking down 43.7 percent of his shots from the perimeter.
In the first meeting, the Jayhawks had to figure things out on defense. Kansas allowed Kansas State to record a season-high 50 points in the first half before the Jayhawks halted the bleeding in the second half.
Kansas was able to rally thanks to its aggressiveness in attacking the rim. They would make 30 trips to the free-throw line and cover 21 of them.
Betting Prediction
While the first game was close, top oddsmakers don’t see a repeat in the thrills department for the rematch. Kansas is a 12-point favorite, while the over/under is set at 142.5 points.
It would be hard to imagine the Jayhawks allowing Kansas State, which has struggled at times offensively this season, to have the same kind of success as with the first meeting.
Kansas is on a roll and will be looking to close the season with a strong flourish to show it is deserving of a top seed in the tournament. Expect the Jayhawks to roll at home and move closer to a Big 12 title.