With a high-scoring battle already in the win column for the No.1 Kansas Jayhawks against No. 10 Michigan State Spartan, Kansas well play their regular season home opener on Monday night against the Vermont Catamounts at the Allen Field House in Lawrence.
Kansas’s team last year looked questionable on paper, yet it managed to advance to the Final Four. This year, the team appears stacked. The Jayhawks may be an unstoppable force this year, leaving Vermont as a likely early season victim on a road to another deep run in March. Can Vermont surprise and hold Kansas close or will the Jayhawks roll over the Catamounts on Monday night?
Live betting will be available at BookMaker.eu. We’ll see what’s on tap for us in this Friday night showdown between two tournament regulars, but what should we look for in live betting at BookMaker.eu?
NCAA Basketball Betting at Bookmaker.eu
Vermont Catamounts vs. Kansas Jayhawks
Date and Time: Monday, November 12, 2018, 9 p.m. ET
Location: Allen Fieldhouse, Lawrence, KS
College Basketball Odds: Check Back Later
Catamounts vs. Jayhawks TV Coverage: ESPN2
This may be the best team in the Bill Self era in Kansas. While that may be a bit of an optimistic statement, it’s hard to view it as too much of a hyperbole. The team is returning two double-digit scorers and adds a top NBA prospect in freshman Quentin Grimes to the mix.
The Jayhawks toppled Michigan State in on a neutral court and now get their first home game of the year where they’ve historically dominated the opposition.
In the opener, Grimes cruised to a team leading 21-points in 30 minutes on the court. He shot 6-for-10 from three-point land, proving to be an excellent shooter outside.
Inside the paint, Udoka Azubuike is a giant amongst giants. At 7’0”, he towers over the Vermont front court and notched 17-points and four blocks against Michigan State while Dedric Lawson notched a double, double with 20 points and 14 rebounds.
Kansas has been a great team the last few years with a four guard set. Now, this team has size to go along with the speed and athleticism on the outside. This team can score on the perimeter and win down low against anyone.
Speaking of the outside, Grimes has already shown he’s the real deal, but he’s not alone. Charlie Moore is now eligible to play after his transfer from California. He scored 12.2 PPG as a freshman there. Devon Dotson is, along with Grimes, a top-end recruit.
Vermont will send a rather inexperienced team to the hardwood at the Allen Fieldhouse. It could be a long night for the Catamounts.
The Catamounts owned the America East conference. They were the winners, earning a NCAA Tournament berth a couple years ago and just missed the honor last year despite a 15-1 conference record. They were generally undersized and at a talent disadvantage against the big boys of college hoops even at their peak, but they could at least hang tough. It’ll be harder now. They lost three starters in the offseason and will lean on sophomores and freshman to step up and produce. Replacing Trae Bell-Haynes will be difficult on the outside after he average 14.6 PPG, but they’ll be getting Anthony Lamb back after he played just 18 games last year. That’ll help minimize the losses of Payton Henson and Drew Urquhart inside.
The front court features Lamb and Everett Duncan returning after a solid, but unspectacular season a year ago. Freshman Isaiah Molls is starting inside along with Lamb and Duncan, and he looked great against Saint Michael’s in the opener, shooting 7-for-9 with 22 points. Duncan’s older brother, Ernie Duncan, is also on the team and is a solid shooter, too. All in all, the team looked great against St. Michael’s winning by 29 but playing Kansas will be an entirely different ballgame.
Live Betting
The Catamounts are a very good America East team even with the losses of a few key players. There went 15-1 in conference last year and have enough returning players and talented freshman to maintain their position at—or near—the top of the conference but playing against Kansas is a completely different situation.
After losing out to the historic UMBC team for the NCAA Tournament berth, Vermont got rocked in their first game in the NIT tourney last year, losing to Middle Tennessee by 30. And that was in the NIT against a Conference USA team. Vermont is a good big fish in a small pond, but when it gets out to the ocean, it struggles. This is essentially what we get in a No.1 versus No.16 seed matchup come March.
The spread should favor the Jayhawks heavily throughout the game and Kansas should be able to score points in bunches in this game.
Key Matchup
We’re still very early in the season and while we could look towards last year’s stats to help drive home the point, the best number—or stat—to look at in this contest may be the seven-foot height of center Azubuike for Kansas.
The height gives the Jayhawks an edge inside and typically smaller schools like Vermont cannot complete, but the Catamounts have their own 7-foot giant in freshman walk-on Jake Lorenzo though he didn’t play in the team’s opener. He was a walk on for a reason. There’s a difference between being big and being a good basketball player, though the former does certainly help with the latter.
For now, Azubuike’s height and skills on the hardwood compliment those of Lawson, forming a major strength for Kansas over Vermont. We’ll see in Lorenzo gets some
Catamounts vs. Jayhawks Live Betting
The Catamounts are young and inexperienced. The pride of the America East should still fare well in conference, but they’ll be overmatched in this one, particularly on the road.
Look for the Jayhawks to dominant on the inside behind Azubuike and Lawson while also controlling the perimeter. Grimes should have another impressive game while the defense of Kansas proves too much for the Vermont offense and the Jayhawks offense rolls against the Catamounts.
Check out all of the live betting at BookMaker.eu for Monday’s college basketball.
Vermont vs. Kansas Score Prediction: Kansas 88, Vermont 59
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