West Virginia vs. Kansas Betting Line
Carrie Stroup here with your West Virginia vs. Kansas betting line courtesy of Sportsbook.ag.
WEST VIRGINIA MOUNTAINEERS (22-7) at KANSAS JAYHAWKS (20-8)
Sportsbook.ag Line: Kansas -9.5, Total: 141
No. 9 Kansas looks for revenge for a Feb. 26 loss when they host No. 20 West Virginia on Tuesday.
No. 20 West Virginia is coming off of a 78-66 loss as 5-point road underdogs against Baylor on Saturday. Prior to that loss, the Mountaineers had won-and-covered in three straight games. They’ve allowed their past two opponents to shoot over 50% from the field and that type of defense won’t cut it moving forward.
No. 9 Kansas beat Texas 69-64 as a 7.5-point home favorite. The Jayhawks have lost four straight games ATS, but they have won two of their past three games SU. West Virginia has only played in Kansas twice in school history and they have lost both SU and ATS in both of those games. The Mountaineers have won-and-covered the past two times they’ve played against the Jayhawks.
When coming off of a SU loss, West Virginia is 5-1 SU but just 2-3 ATS this season. Kansas is 16-6 SU and 11-10 ATS when coming off of a SU win. It is also 13-0 SU and 8-5 ATS when playing as a home favorite this season. G Juwan Staten (Knee) is listed as questionable for the Mountaineers and G Gary Browne (Leg) is doubtful for the team. F Cliff Alexander (Eligibility) is questionable for the Jayhawks.
West Virginia is extremely solid on both ends of the floor, scoring 74.0 PPG (37th in NCAA) and allowing 65.9 PPG (150th in NCAA). They are not very efficient though, shooting just 41.1% from the field this season (287th in NCAA). One thing the Mountaineers do better than everybody else is force turnovers. West Virginia is averaging 11.3 SPG (1st in NCAA) and really knows how to make its opponents uncomfortable.
G Juwan Staten (14.5 PPG, 4.6 APG, 2.8 RPG, 1.1 SPG) hit the game-winning layup the last time he faced this Kansas team. Staten is a solid outside shooter (36% 3PT) and attacks the rim ferociously as well. He knows when to find his teammates and will need to play well if he is going to help his team upset the Jayhawks in Lawrence. He had 20 points and four assists in 32 minutes in their last meeting and can really help his team win with more of the same on Tuesday. His health is the only question mark after missing the game against Baylor on Saturday.
F Devin Williams (10.8 PPG, 8.1 RPG) is going to need to have a big game against Kansas this time around. He had eight points and four rebounds in 26 minutes before fouling out in the last meeting with the Jayhawks and will need to find a way to stay on the court the whole game Tuesday. He is far too important on the glass for his team to lose him before the final five minutes or so.
F Jonathan Holton (7.9 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 1.3 SPG) will really need to come ready to play in this one. Holton had five points and nine rebounds against Kansas last meeting and will need to pick up a big bulk of the rebounding load if Williams gets into foul trouble once again.
G Jevon Carter (8.8 PPG, 2.5 RPG, 1.8 SPG) is an excellent outside shooter (35% 3PT) and is also one of the best defenders on the team. Carter had 25 points (8-for-16 FG, 7-for-13 3PT) in 38 minutes against Baylor on Saturday. He had 13 points and six rebounds against Kansas last meeting and has shown a knack for coming up big in the biggest games.
Kansas is coming off of a 69-64 victory over Texas on Saturday, but the team struggled throughout the course of that game. Picking up the victory is all that matters, but they must figure things out and put together a complete game against West Virginia on Tuesday. The Jayhawks are averaging 71.7 PPG (75th in NCAA) on 44.4% shooting (120th in NCAA) and allowing 64.6 PPG (131st in NCAA) this season.
This team can play well on both ends of the floor and that begins with F Perry Ellis (14.5 PPG, 7.2 RPG). Ellis was a monster against Texas, putting up 28 points with 13 rebounds and three blocks in 38 minutes. He’s now scored 23+ in each of his past three games and is a guy that plays hard every second he is on the floor. Ellis had 19 points, five boards and two assists in 32 minutes the last time he faced West Virginia. Ellis missed what would have been the game-winning layup as time expired, but he can’t let that weigh on him in this game. He must continue to finish around the basket and may need to hit the glass even harder with F Cliff Alexander’s (7.1 PPG, 5.3 RPG) status up in the air.
G Frank Mason III (12.1 PPG, 4.3 APG, 3.7 RPG, 1.4 SPG) had 18 points the last time he faced the Mountaineers. He is an extremely accurate outside shooter (43% 3PT) and must knock down some shots while also finding his teammates for some easy buckets in this game.
G Wayne Selden Jr. (9.6 PPG, 3.0 APG) has now gone four straight contests without reaching double-digits in points. He had just four points in 28 minutes the last time he faced West Virginia and he will need to be better than that in this game. He’d be wise to attack the rim and try to get himself to the charity stripe on Tuesday.
G Kelly Oubre Jr. (8.8 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 1.1 SPG) has put up 14+ points in four of the past five games for Kansas. He is a smooth wing scorer and should provide a big spark in this game.
- Carrie Stroup, Gambling911.com Senior Reporter
