The Oklahoma Sooners have fallen into a huge rut, which has knocked them out of the national rankings and is hurting their prospective NCAA Tournament seeding by the day. Oklahoma needs to turn it around but is going to have a tough time with that early next week when it hits the road to face off against the Kansas Jayhawks.
The Jayhawks haven’t quite reached the status of elite college team this season but is still very good and ranked nationally. Kansas gets this game at home and will definitely be favored in this matchup.
Oklahoma has shown the ability to hang with some of the best teams in the Big 12 this season but has lost seven of nine games recently. This is a critical game for both sides, but especially the Sooners as they try to escape this funk.
At 9 p.m. ET, tune into ESPN for live television coverage of this NCAA basketball game on Monday, February 19, 2018, at the Joyce Center.
We'll have NCAA basketball odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game on the college basketball Monday schedule.
Odds Analysis
Oklahoma is 16-9 straight up and 9-16 against the spread. The Sooners have only covered in two of eight attempts on the road this year. They are 2-2 against the spread as the underdog.
Kansas is 19-6 straight up and 12-12 against the spread. The Jayhawks have covered in six of their 14 tries at home on the season. Kansas is 11-11 against the spread as the underdog.
Last Meeting
Oklahoma pulled off the upset against Kansas the first time these two teams faced off on January 23rd.
The question is, can the Sooners do it again at Allen Fieldhouse?
Behind 26 points from freshman point guard Trae Young, the Sooners captured an 85-80 win over the Jayhawks at home. Things stayed tight until the final minute when clutch shots from Christian James and Brady Manek gave the Sooners a five-point lead with 27 seconds left and Oklahoma’s defense denied the Jayhawks a comeback.
Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk had 24 points for the Jayhawks in that first matchup and sophomore Malik Newman added 20 points. With the win, the Sooners snagged their sixth victory over a Top 25 opponent this season.
Player To Watch
Young – The Sooners’ star is already drawing comparisons to some of the game’s greatest point guards and he is only 19. Whatever the young player’s future might hold is yet to be seen, but there is no questioning that he is the Sooners’ most dangerous weapon in the present moment.
Young is averaging 29.5 points and 9.4 assists per game this season. He has scored 40 points or more on four different occasions this year, including notching a career-high 48 points against Oklahoma State on January 20th.
His 26 points he scored against Kansas in the first meeting between the two teams came on a night where he shot 77.8 percent from the field and was 2-of-3 from three-point range. He will looking to rekindle that kind of efficiency in this rematch on Monday in hopes of helping the Sooners right the ship.
Free NCAA Men’s Basketball ATS Picks
Oklahoma has been having some big-time issues of late, with only a two-point win over Baylor its lone victory since knocking off Kansas. The Jayhawks are going to make sure Oklahoma continues to slide by taking care of business at home.
Kansas is hoping to secure a high seed in the NCAA Tournament and a win here will help. The Sooners are not playing well right now and they could fail to cover the spread once again. The “over” should be in consideration as this one could be an absolute shootout with little defense and an up-tempo pace.
NCAA Men’s Basketball Odds: Kansas 92, Oklahoma 84
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