It's going to be one heck of a stretch of 50 hours or so for the Oklahoma Sooners and the Kansas Jayhawks. Both teams are starting off their Big XII seasons on Saturday against ranked teams, but on Monday, they're going to have to face off with one another in a major Top 5 battle to kick off the new year.
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HOW THE OKLAHOMA SOONERS CAN COVER THE SPREAD
The battle in the backcourt is going to be huge on Monday night. Buddy Hield and Jordan Woodard are coming off of a game against Harvard in which they combined to score 62 points. You just don't see that nowadays in college basketball.
Clearly, these two men are going to have to be big in this game, though they're certainly not alone. Ryan Spangler and Isaiah Cousins are both superstars in their own right, though they're clearly the third and fourth fiddles on this roster.
The real trick though, is going to be playing defense. The Sooners do rank well defensively, allowing 66.1 points per game, and opponents are shooting just 35.7 percent from the field against them. However, there's a big difference between playing a non-conference schedule and a game against arguably the best team in America. If this defense holds the fort on the road and can keep the Jayhawks from shooting 40 percent, Oklahoma will certainly have a shot at an upset.
HOW THE KANSAS JAYHAWKS CAN COVER THE SPREAD
Having Brannen Greene back from a suspension in November has been huge for the Jayhawks. He isn't going to play a ton of minutes in this game, but he's instant offense off of the bench for when Frank Mason or Devonte' Graham need a breather.
However, we aren't so much worried about the Kansas guards in this game as we are the forwards. Oklahoma can be had in the frontcourt if it isn't careful, and we think Bill Self's side needs to get the ball down in the paint quite a bit.
Perry Ellis plays really well with his back to the basket, and he's had seven straight games with double-digits in scoring. There's no reason for this game to be any different.
ANALYSIS AND ODDS PREDICTION
Going into the Phog isn't easy no matter who you are, and the Sooners are going to find this out the hard way. Last year when they went to Lawrence, they were smashed 85-78 in a game which they had no answers whatsoever for the three-point shooting of Kelly Oubre and the rest of the Jayhawks. This year's crop isn't quite as good as shooting the ball from long range as that one was, but let's not forget that Kansas was +6 on the glass that day, too.
The Sooners might still be undefeated, and many might be picking them to go to the Final Four this season, but until we see them win a game like this on the road against one of the beasts of the Big XII, we're going to continue to pick against them. This game just reeks of Hield going crazy and shooting something like 6-for-20 from the field, and that just won't cut it against a great team like Kansas.
Kansas 78, Oklahoma 70
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