The matchup between college basketball bluebloods likely would have been a bigger deal if not for the Indiana Hoosiers dropping two of their last three games. A visit to Phog Allen Fieldhouse for a top-25 matchup with the Kansas Jayhawks isn’t the ideal scenario to break out of their little slump but that’s what IU is facing after recent setbacks to Rutgers and Arizona. Kansas is always tough to beat and especially at the Phog where they are 5-0 this season with payouts in the last two. Following their lone setback of the season the Jayhawks have won three straight by an average of nearly 29 points covering the spread and cashing the OVER in all three.
This war on the floor will go down Saturday, December 17, 2022 at 12 p.m. ET at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, KS. The game will be televised live on ESPN2. We'll have NCAA basketball odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game on the college basketball Saturday schedule.
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Odds Analysis
There haven’t been many instances where the Jayhawks are catching points in a home game. In fact according to my research it’s happened just once since the turn of the century and that was two seasons ago when the No. 1 ranked Baylor Bears visited the Phog. And just like the outcome of most home games the Jayhawks prevailed, 71-58, when catching 4-points on the closing line. In other words you can expect KU will be laying points when the odds surface. They were huge favorites of at least 20 points in their first four home games and spotted Seton Hall 11 points in their 91-65 win at the start of December. Indiana opened the season with seven straight wins going 5-1-1 ATS before hitting a little bump. They lost 63-48 to Rutgers as a slight 3-point favorite and most recently lost to Arizona 89-75 on a neutral court falling to 8-2 SU and 6-3-1 ATS.
Indiana Hoosiers
One thing Indiana has done really well this season is shoot the basketball. The Hoosiers are among the top-5 making 51.1 percent of their field goal attempts helping them score more than 81 points per game. They do have lapses, though, like in their tilt with Rutgers. They shot just 30 percent from the field and were 6 of 25 from behind the arc in the 63-48 loss. They bounced back with an 81-65 win over Nebraska before getting burned by the Wildcats in Las Vegas.
It’s no coincidence that the losses and struggles on offense occurred with five-star recruit Jalen Hood-Schifino on the shelf. The freshman started each of the first seven games averaging 8.7 points and 4.1 assists. He reached double figures in points in three of four games before a back injury sidelined him. Hood-Schifino scored a season-high 14 points in his last outing and his status is undetermined for Saturday’s game. It’s hard to put so much on a young man’s plate, but the Hoosiers had a tough time creating offense with Hood-Schifino out.
Kansas Jayhawks
Kansas played a number of close games leading up to their loss to Tennessee, which may have been a wakeup call for them. They got by Wisconsin 69-68 in overtime in the game prior with their three previous games all decided by six points or less. The good news is the Jayhawks came out on top in all of them, but they were playing with fire. They were battered 64-50 by the Vols failing to cover the 2.5-point spread. It was their sixth ATS loss in seven games. All it took was a game against overmatched Texas Southern to get things straightened out. KU shot 55 percent from the floor making 13 triples to cover the 25-point spread in the 87-55 win.
After not hitting the 90-point mark in any of their first eight games the Jayhawks did it in their last two topping Seton Hall 91-65 and Missouri 95-67. Their last three wins were decided by 26 points or more with the Jayhawks earning three payouts and cashing the OVER each time. Jalen Wilson leads the team averaging 22.1 points, but K.J. Adams Jr. has been a find. He hit 9 of 11 shots for a season-high 19 points against Missouri and is averaging 13.3 points while shooting 77.3 percent from the field during the three-game winning streak.
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Kansas is nearly unbeatable at home and the Jayhawks took their game to another level after losing to Tennessee. After scoring just 38 points in 29 games last season, Adams gives the offense another dimension that opponents have to contend with. KU has several weapons to counter Indiana’s attack. And if Hood-Schifino doesn’t play this one could get out of hand in a hurry.
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