It hasn’t been fun for the West Virginia Mountaineers when it comes to battling the Big 12 rival Kansas Jayhawks ever since becoming a member of the conference back in 2013. Since then, Bob Huggins has been forced to watch his kids fall to the Jayhawks in 16 of the 22 overall meetings be it in the regular season or Big 12 Tournament. None of those wins occurred in Lawrence. Does that mean WVU will have a shot to win the rematch with it back in the comforts of their own gym? Linemakers at online sportsbooks will be offering the Mounty’s up a healthy amount of points, but will it be enough to entice some action on the home team? Likely not with it entering the tilt losers in nine of 10 and managing just two pointspread covers while the Jayhawks are out to win their 20th regular season Big 12 title. But that’s exactly what those booking the bets want you to believe; especially with WVU’s failing to cover the two times it was installed home dogs this season. Something tells me the Mountaineers bring their “A” game to the hardwood for this Saturday night fight!
Take this Big 12 battle in live on ESPN at 8 p.m. ET from the WVU Coliseum on Saturday, February 19, 2022. BookMaker.eu will have NCAA basketball odds available for this and every game lined up for the day’s enormous college basketball schedule.
College Basketball Betting at BookMaker.eu
Odds Analysis
KU will invade Morgantown owners of a 10-2 SU conference record and winners of two straight after just taking care of business against both Oklahoma schools. While it managed to cover the closing CBB odds last time out at home against OK-State, it only moved them to 11-13-1 ATS overall. Though it’s won four of six played Big 12 road games (2-4 ATS), the average margin of victory clocks in at just six points per game which is likely in the neighborhood of the expected amount of points they’ll be asked to lay in this spot. West Virginia has split its six home games against conference opponents (2-4 ATS). The pair of home defeats to Baylor and Texas Tech proved to be competitive defeats with the loss to the Red Raiders seeing them fall and fail to cover after holding a 6-point halftime lead. These teams already crossed paths in the Phog back on January 15 when KU cruised to the 85-59 win as 11.5-point favorites.
Kansas Jayhawks
Since dropping a game they likely should’ve won in Austin, Kansas has held on to defeat the Sooners and stomped the Cowboys to become the first team in the Big 12 to log 10 conference wins. Had it not gift wrapped that game to the Longhorns, they’d enter this tilt amidst a five-game win streak and likely stand 4-1 ATS in those contests. Ochai Agbaji was nearly invisible in the loss to Texas and the near-loss to Oklahoma in averaging 11 points per game, but he bounced back nicely last time out to lead the Jayhawks in scoring with 20 points against Oklahoma State. He along with Christian Braun (15.3 PPG) and Jalen Wilson (10.5 PPG) represent the only double-digit scorers on KU’s roster, and stopping the trio will be priority No. 1 of a Mountaineers defense that allowed the Jayhawks to shoot better than 50 percent from the field in the first go-round.
West Virginia Mountaineers
It’s been tough to watch the demise of the Mountaineers program this season. What was once a team that prided itself on forcing turnovers and getting after it at the other end of the court has resorted into a vanilla offensive attack mostly due to its inability to hit the broad side of a barn when open. While the defense still does a tremendous job forcing opponent miscues (No. 22), its offense is nothing short of a train wreck in averaging a paltry 68.3 points per game (No. 253) and ranking No. 295 in effective field goal percentage (No. 295). Since getting throttled by the Jayhawks in the middle of January, WVU has managed just one win through nine tries and only three times surpassed the 70-point scoring plateau. It’s been held to less than 60 points in two of its last four games, and will now be forced to deal with a Kansas defense ranked No. 37 overall in efficiency per the Pomeroy Ratings.
Kansas at West Virginia Betting Prediction
You know Huggy Bear is destined to get one of those “circle the wagons” type efforts from his kids as bad a season it’s been. It could end up being this Saturday night with a rowdy crowd expected to fill the Coliseum. Even so, I want nothing to do with taking the points. Instead, I’ll bank on West Virginia’s defense setting the tone after getting embarrassed the first time around. Kansas drained 36 of its 70 overall shots (51%) and drained eight shots from long range. The 26 point final margin of victory would’ve been even worse had the Mounty’s not gotten to the line 28 times and converted 21 times; they shot a horrific 27 percent from the field for crying out loud! I’m expecting the total to come out in the mid-140s for the rematch and I’ll hit the low side of the number if it comes to pass. I’ll be expecting an inspired defensive effort from the Mountaineers that keeps it close enough for the final outcome to be undecided late in the second half. Hopefully it doesn’t take overtime to decide the victor.
BookMaker offers play-by-play betting odds for live sporting events every day! The user-friendly wagering interface on your smartphone provides an easy way to place bets on the go. Mobile betting lines are updated by the minute, so click here to start gambling on thrilling live action at BookMaker Sportsbook!
