Becoming the latest No. 1 team to fall from the lofty perch, the Kansas Jayhawks return to the hardwood in their first game since a disheartening setback at Villanova. They get an unranked opponent on Sunday, but that doesn’t mean the road is any easier. The Stanford Cardinal are knocking on the door of the top-25 after opening the season with 11 wins in 12 games, their best start in more than a decade. The teams met last season with KU pulling out an overtime home victory against a Cardinal team that won only 15 games.
This college basketball matchup takes place on Sunday, December 29, 2019. Tip-off will be at 3 p.m. ET from Maples Pavilion in Stanford, California. The game will be televised live on ABC. BookMaker.eu will have NCAA basketball odds for every game on the Sunday schedule.
Odds Analysis
The Jayhawks are certainly deserving of a top-5 ranking and will probably have another shot at getting to the top spot in the polls before the season ends. There was no shame in losing the season-opener to Duke, which is 10-1. And KU responded by taking the next nine by an average of nearly 27 points with all but one of those contests decided by fewer than 12 points. Positioned in the top spot, the Jayhawks fell to No. 18 Villanova, 56-55, on the road their last time out with the Cats needing a late triple. The two losses were by a combined three points.
Devon Dotson and Udoka Azubuike give the Jayhawks a formidable inside-outside presence. Dotson leads the team with 19.2 points and 4.7 assists per game while Azubuike shoots 80.5 percent from the floor and averages 14 points. He also averages 8.4 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game. As a team KU shoots over 52 percent from the field and scores 82 points per game, but they are perhaps better defensively, holding 10 of 11 opponents to fewer than 70 points with half of those under 60.
The 11-1 record is glossy, but there is a reason why the Cardinal have yet to crack the top-25. They haven’t played a ranked team this season and the high-profile matchup with Butler resulted in their only loss. Stanford won its last four following that setback, taking down a few patsies in UNC-Wilmington, San Jose State and San Diego, teams with a combined winning percentage of .350. They’ve won all their games inside Maples Pavilion going 6-2 ATS in those contests.
It’s a young Stanford team and the future is now apparently. They don’t play any seniors and the group is gaining valuable experience while winning games. The Cardinal are off to their best start in more than a decade thanks to a scrappy defense that’s held the last four opponents to fewer than 60 points with the UNDER going 3-0-1. Nine of their victims failed to reach 60 points and the Cardinal allows just 57.7 points per game. They yielded a season-high to Butler in their only loss.
Key Injury
The Jayhawks lost Marcus Garrett in their last game when he exited in the first half with an ankle injury. He’s started every game this season averaging 8.7 points and 4.2 assists, but his presence on the defensive end is a reason for the team’s success and also a factor in the loss to Villanova. “He’s our toughest kid. If he says he can’t play, it’s probably not good,” coach Bill Self said postgame. The good news is that Garrett has plenty of time to recuperate. The bad news is that ankle injuries can be problematic.
Player to Watch
Stanford has a good one in forward Oscar Da Silva, who leads the team in scoring and rebounding. A gifted player with excellent feet, Da Silva is difficult to defend around the basket. He scores 17.6 points per game with an assortment of moves and deadly accuracy. His low-post game has evolved leading to an increased number of free throws. In 30 games last season he got to the stripe 56 times. He’s already attempted 57 freebies this year making 84.2 percent. The matchup between Da Silva and Azubuike will go a long way toward determining the outcome of this one.
College Basketball Pick
The argument against Stanford is their schedule, which hasn’t been strong to this point. But the Cardinal have won and in many cases convincingly. They are stingy defensively and get contributions up and down the roster. However, they need Da Silva and Daejon Davis to come up big for the win. I like Stanford, but Kansas is an experienced squad and Azubuike will negate anything down low. Look for the Jayhawks to prevail in a close, low-scoring affair.
College Basketball Pick: Kansas 65, Stanford 61
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