There is some bad blood between these college basketball blue bloods after Kentucky’s 32-point beatdown of the Jayhawks last season. Kansas gets a shot at redemption and puts its 34-game home winning streak on the line in the marquee matchup of the SEC/Big 12 Challenge.
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HOW THE KENTUCKY WILDCATS CAN COVER THE SPREAD
The Wildcats are playing with a confidence that we really haven’t seen for an entire game almost all season. We kept asking ourselves: when is this team going to get up on somebody and put their foot on the gas? It’s now happened twice in a row. Kentucky will play Missouri on Wednesday night before their showdown in Lawrence. That game will tell us a lot about where Kentucky really is right now.
Keep in mind that Kentucky is still a young, freshman-dominated team and the youngsters had to grow up quickly in coach John Calipari’s system. The backcourt duo of freshman Jamal Murray and sophomore Tyler Ulis is one of the best in the country and could give the Jayhawks fits.
Kansas was ruined by Iowa State point guard Monte Morris in Monday’s loss to the Cyclones and the Wildcats could use a similar effort from Ulis, who averages 15.3 points and 6.0 assists per game. Murray leads UK with 17.8 points and they are the only two to average in double figures.
An inside presence will be needed to take some of the pressure off Ulis and Murray and the Wildcats are hopeful Skal Labissiere is ready to take his game to the next level. The freshman phenom has shown glimpses of what he’s capable of doing over the past few games and, along with Alex Poythress and Marcus Lee, will need to provide something down low to give the ‘Cats a shot.
HOW THE KANSAS JAYHAWKS CAN COVER THE SPREAD
A good team doesn’t suddenly become a bad one in the span of a few days. The Jayhawks have some issues, most notably winning games on the road, but they are still among college basketball’s elite. Three consecutive losses away from home have some concerned, but not coach Bill Self, who cites the competitive nature of the Big 12 and the difficulty every team in the conference has trying to win road games.
Kansas needs Frank Mason, Devonte’ Graham and Wayne Seldon to return to playing at the level they played during KU’s hot start to the season. On any given night, Kansas has proven it can overcome either rough shooting or poor defense. But when its perimeter players struggle, as they did in Monday’s loss to Iowa State, the Jayhawks are much less likely to come out on top.
It’s not as if the Jayhawks have played poorly during their 2-3 stretch, they just haven’t played Kansas basketball for an entire game. Kansas stayed composed during the first half of Monday’s game and got just about whatever it wanted en route to a 43-point half and 58 percent shooting. Things changed in the last 20 minutes.
ANALYSIS AND ODDS PREDICTION
If this game was played in Lexington I would probably lean toward a Wildcats victory, simply because of the Jayhawks recent struggles on the road. But it’s not, and Kansas just doesn’t lose at the Phog. The crowd energizes the home team and the Jayhawks play with a passion that has been missing while they’re on the road. And let’s face it, the Big 12 is the nastiest conference in college basketball, so expecting a team, even one as good as Kansas, to win every night is ludicrous. The Wildcats have a lot to prove, mainly that they’re as good as their record indicates. They have experienced some growing pains with a bunch of underclassmen dotting the roster and playing major minutes, and expectations in Kentucky are out of the realm of possibility some times. A win over the Jayhawks on the road would solidify UK’s standing in the SEC, but the Wildcats are a bit undermanned in the block and the environment will be unlike anything the kids have experienced so far.
Kansas 86, Kentucky 78
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