It’s a top-25 showdown in the Big 12 when the No. 6 Kansas Jayhawks visit the No. 25 Texas Tech Red Raiders on Saturday. It’s a bit surprising Kansas isn’t ranked higher since they’ve won eight straight and have just one loss on the season. The schedule has a lot to do with that and this is the first nationally ranked opponent KU will face. The Jayhawks had a rough outing on Tuesday but rallied to beat Oklahoma State in the league opener. They were tenacious overcoming a poor shooting night to beat a good club on the road. It shows that the Jayhawks have the talent and ability to beat teams in a number of different ways.
This war on the floor will go down Saturday, January 8, 2022 at 4 p.m. ET at United Supermarkets Arena in Lubbock, TX. 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
The Big 12 has been one of the best hoop conferences in college basketball for some time. The league can thank Kansas for that, but the rest of the teams have caught up. There are no easy outs with all 10 teams sporting a winning record and eight of them having double-digit win totals. And the Big 12 houses the No. 1 team in the country in Baylor. What I’m saying is that anything can happen and usually does when two of the Big 12’s best hookup. Kansas is on a nice roll beating OK State for their eighth straight win. They covered the 6.5-point line in that matchup for their fifth payout in seven games. KU’s only loss came around Thanksgiving, 74-73 to Dayton in a game they closed as a 16-point favorite at a neutral site.
The Red Raiders will jump right into the fire when they open conference play this week. The originally scheduled opener against OK State on New Year’s Day was postponed with the lid-lifter now slated for Wednesday against Iowa State. Both Kansas and ISU are 12-1 heading into Wednesday’s action. Tech had a nice tune up in its most recent outing burying Alabama State 75-53. But are the Red Raiders ready for the grind of the Big 12 after beating out classed ASU and Eastern Washington? They were favored by at least 21 points in both games earning a payout against EWU. Both losses to Providence and Gonzaga came in the past six games with Tech going 2-4 ATS.
Kansas Jayhawks
We caught a glimpse of how good Kansas can be in its last two games. The game against George Mason on Saturday was closer than I’m sure the Jayhawks would have liked. They won 76-67 closing as a 19.5-point favorite. With David McCormack playing only 10 minutes, Mitch Lightfoot saw plenty of time and made the most of it off the bench scoring 14 points making all seven of his shots. And Jalen Coleman-Lands had his best game as a Jayhawk with 20 points and three assists.
A few nights later they endured a scoreless spell of more than nine minutes and still scored 74 points to beat OSU. It’s hard to keep a good offensive team down and after tallying 29 first half points the Jayhawks went nuts shooting better than 70 percent and scoring 45 points in the second half.
Texas Tech Red Raiders
One way to beat Kansas is to keep them off the scoreboard. In their only loss the Jayhawks produced their second-lowest point total of the season. One thing Tech does exceptionally well is play defensele. They’ve held six opponents to fewer than 60 points and surrendered a total of 99 points in wins over Alabama State and EWU. They rank among the top-16 nationally in points allowed per game and field goal percentage defense.
In their loss to Gonzaga a few weeks ago, Tech was hurt by the Zags all-around efficiency. They successfully took away the inside game, but allowed too many perimeter and three-point shots. It’s the same double-edged sword against Kansas. They will have to pressure KU’s leading scorer Ochai Agbaji and hope someone else doesn’t beat you. And the Red Raiders will have to score, which could be difficult if leading scorer T.J. Shannon doesn’t return. Tech hasn’t allowed more than 69 points in any of its last five games with the UNDER going 5-0.
Free College Basketball ATS Picks
I like the way Texas Tech plays defense and forces turnovers. That should disrupt Kansas enough to keep the score below the total. However, the offense isn’t where it should be and facing a club as good as Kansas will create problems, just like Gonzaga did. I don’t see Texas Tech doing enough offensively giving the edge to the visitors.
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