The Kansas Jayhawks are still finding their way following the season-ending injury to star center Udoka Azubuike. The shorter, guard-heavy Jayhawks will host the Texas Longhorns on Monday evening in their fifth Big 12 Conference game of the season.
Kansas is shifting midseason, but still ranks as a top-10 team and Big 12 favorite as they get set to take on an erratic Texas team. The Longhorns have beaten teams like UNC and Purdue, but lost to Radford and Oklahoma State. Can Texas play up to the competition again in this one? Or will Kansas roll over the Longhorns on Monday?
Kanas is undefeated at home and beat a better team than Texas in TCU the last time they were in the Allen Fieldhouse. They should beat the Longhorns, too, but Texas is as unpredictable a team as there is in the Big 12.
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Texas Longhorns vs. Kansas Jayhawks
Date and Time: Monday, January 14, 2019, 9 p.m. ET
Location: Allen Fieldhouse, Lawrence, Kansas
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Longhorns vs. Jayhawks TV Coverage: ESPN
Defensively, Kansas is an elite team, ranked No.7 in the adjusted defensive ratings according to KenPom. The Jayhawks are going to miss Azubuike for his blocking ability inside, but even without him, this is a good defensive team.
On the offensive side, the Jayhawks are a bit desperate to find some help. The team has 79 PPG and is a solid shooting team, but Azubuike has been a big part of that—no pun intended.
Over the last three games heading into the weekend, Kansas has scored fewer than 70 PPG. Kansas is 2-1 in those three games with a loss to Iowa State though the team did put up 77 in a win over TCU on Wednesday which is a clear positive.
In that game, Dedric Lawson stood out with 31 points and 14 rebounds. He shot 10 for 19 from the floor and has been asked to single-handedly carry this team inside at times.
Lawson leads the team in scoring with 19.5 PPG. He also has 11.3 RPG and is shooting 50.2-percent from the floor. He is a good defender inside, too.
Aside from Lawson, this team is a bit undersized now in this post-Azubuike era of the 2018-2019 season. Lagerald Vick leads the backcourt and is nearly as dynamic a scorer as Lawson with 14.6 PPG. He’s a good threat from the perimeter, too, as is Devon Dotson who is also getting plenty of playing time and putting up double-digit point totals.
Dotson and Quentin Grimes have proven themselves to be reliable freshmen, deserving of their five star status coming out of high school. With the likes of Charlie Moore and K.J. Lawson added to the mix along with Marcus Garrett, this team still has plenty of depth even with the Azubuike injury.
To help this team even more, particularly on offense given their recent struggles, they’ve decided to take the redshirt tag off Ochai Agbaji who adds plenty of athleticism as a small forward. He’s already shown some positive flashes in his debut.
On the other side of the court, Texas lost to Oklahoma State on Tuesday, falling to 10-5 on the season. It was the team’s first loss in conference after being Kansas State and West Virginia.
Offensively, this team is lacking. They’re scoring just 72 PPG and are shooting a dismal 43.1-percent from the floor. While Kansas’s last three games haven’t been juggernauts offensively, they’ve been good compared to Texas. The Longhorns scored just 58 in the loss to the Cowboys and combined for 128 in the wins over Kansas State and West Virginia.
In the OK State loss, the Longhorns shot 41.8-percent from the floor and was 2-for-22 on the outside. That’s not going to cut it, even with a four block performance from Jaxson Hayes.
The defense for the team isn’t the problem. Hayes has 2.6 BPG as the 6’11” freshman is an intimidating presence inside. He’s putting up 9.8 PPG and has been a solid player on the glass, too.
He’s joined inside by Dylan Osetkowski with 10 PPG and 7.9 RPG. Those two are holding down the fort inside and could be a challenge for Lawson.
The backcourt, meanwhile, has Kerwin Roach II and Matt Coleman III with 13.3 PPG and 10.2 PPG respectively, ranking first and second on the Longhorns.
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Is the offensive improvement Kansas showed against TCU for real? Can the trio of talented freshmen in Dotson, Grimes and Agbaji continue to improve and step up their game? We’re about to find out.
Kansas still ranked No.10 in KenPom’s ratings. Both the defense and offense both have favorable ratings, leading to the high margin. The defense ranks No.7 even ahead of Texas at No.11. The gap between the two according to KenPom is minimal, of course, though the gap offensively is much bigger.
Save a 98-point performance against Grand Canyon, Texas hasn’t shown a solid offensive performance since a surprisingly win over UNC in November. Since that time, other than the Grand Canyon game, a 76-point performance against UT Arlington tops the offensive output.
We’ve seen this team step up offensively. They scored 92 against UNC, but can they do it again? The shooting has been inaccurate lately. Watch to see if they can get hot and shoot well early, they’ll need to get more offense than they have lately to have a chance, particularly on the road.
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Key Player
Marcus Garrett has been one of the key benefactors of the Azubuike injury, at least in terms of playing time. Without the big man inside, Bill Self is going with a smaller set, focused on the outside.
This Kansas team was an elite shooting team from the perimeter last year and to this point, hasn’t produced the same results. Garrett, himself, is only shooting 18.6-percent from three, taking just 1.6 shots from outside per game.
With that, Self has decided to burn Ochai Agbaji’s redshirt. He played his first game of the season on Wednesday against TCU and looked good in 25 minutes. He gives Kansas another guy that can make plays above the rim. He’s a great athlete and one of the top players coming out of high school.
This guy can make shots and while he’s not replacing what Azubuike can do, he’s a very different player, he is bringing some added excitement and athleticism to a roster that needs a boost.
Longhorns vs. Jayhawks Live Betting
The loss of Azubuike cannot be overstated. Without the big man, this team has a completely different make up, shifting from dominant frontcourt and solid production outside, to smaller team focused more on athleticism.
Look for Agbaji to continue to grow as a player with more time on the court and for him, Vick, Grimes and Dotson to outshoot the backcourt for Texas. At the same time, look for a big game from Lawson who will also be the primary reason Kansas beats Texas on the glass.
Kansas is still an elite team. They’ll find a way to score as the offense should continue to improve. Meanwhile, the defense should have a field day against a poor offense in Texas.
Check out all of the live betting at BookMaker.eu for Monday’s college basketball action.
NCAA Basketball Score Prediction: Kansas 78, Texas 66
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