Bill Self’s team looks like they’ve bounced back heading into the NCAAB Oklahoma at Kansas pick. The Jayhawks bounced back from their worst defeat in 30 years to trounce TCU 93-64 on Tuesday as -6.5 road favorites. The Sooners hope they get the KU team that lost 84-59 to #4 Texas the game prior as -5 point favorites at home.
OU has flip-flopped wins and losses the last four games, most recently getting trounced 76-61 at #2 Baylor albeit as +11.5 road underdogs. The Sooners do have a win over #14 West Virginia on the season and lost by two #18 Texas Tech, but both those games were in Norman. Oklahoma is a +6.5 underdog on the road Saturday.
OU In an Offensive Rut
Oklahoma has the ##2 scoring offense in the Big 12, but they looked ugly in a 76-61 loss at Baylor on Wednesday. It was the second time in the last three games that the Sooners were held to 67 points or less. Leading scorer Austin Reaves was just 2-9 from three point range and Umoja Gibson followed up his 29 point performance against West Virginia by going 0-7 from the field vs. the Bears.
With the loss at Baylor, Oklahoma is now 1-2 on the road this season. That’s not good ahead of the NCAAB Oklahoma at Kansas pick, as the Sooners lost 87-70 last year in Lawrence as +11.5 underdogs. The line is much lower for this seasons first meeting, but the Jayhawks also won 66-52 last year at Oklahoma when they were just -4.5 favorites.
Another thing that doesn’t bode well for the Sooners offense is that KU should be getting their best perimeter defender back after Marcus Garrett missed the TCU game with a face injury.
Kansas Offense Ready to Light Things Up?
The Jayhawks were clicking on offense on Tuesday, scoring 90+ points for the third time this season. That outing came against TCU’s #4 defense in the Big 12, and Oklahoma has the 3rd worst defense in the conference, allowing 71.4 ppg.
KU put up 20 three pointers in the win over TCU, a trend that will likely continue against one of the worst three point guarding teams in the nation. Opponents shoot 39.8% from beyond the arc against the Sooners, easily the worst in the conference. It doesn’t help matters that Kansas is the 2nd best three point shooting team in the Big 12 as well. Even if those shots aren’t falling, the Jayhawks have the 2nd best rebounding margin in the conference so a lot of 2nd chance points should fall their way.
The Jayhawks aren’t perfect, as evidenced by their 25-point home loss to Texas two games ago. That’s the #4 Longhorns team in the nation though, and the only other loss for Kansas this year came 102-90 against Gonzaga in the opener, the #1 team in the country.
Free NCAAB Oklahoma at Kansas Pick
This one looks like it could get away from OU. The Sooners suffered two double digit losses to Kansas last season, and have one of the worst defenses in the Big 12 against one of the conference’s better scoring teams. Kansas giving 9 or 10 would seemingly still have value.
Oklahoma 72 – Kansas 84
Free Pick: Kansas -6.5
