College Basketball Betting – Texas Longhorns at Kansas Jayhawks

Consecutive victories have the Texas Longhorns back at .500 in Big 12 play with a record of 4-4. They’ve yet to climb over the breakeven point and will have a difficult time doing so when they visit the No. 3 Kansas Jayhawks on Monday night. Since losing to now No. 1 Baylor a few weeks back, the Jayhawks have rattled off six straight wins to stay a game behind the Bears. They’ve also beaten the Horns eight straight times at the Phog and they are favored to extend that winning streak.  Bet this game here and claim your welcome bonus - $1000 maximum offered.

Texas Longhorns at Kansas Jayhawks

Date and Time: Monday, February 3, 2020, 9 p.m. ET

Location: Allen Fieldhouse, Lawrence, KS

Opening College Basketball Odds: Kansas -14.5, O/U 129.5

Texas at Kansas TV Coverage: ESPN

Odds Analysis

Only one result matters in college basketball and that’s wins. The Horns have 14 of those against seven losses, but that record has left some in Austin wavering in their support of Shaka Smart. One thing that will certainly help Smart’s employment status at Texas is a win over No. 3 Kansas. During his tenure, though, the Horns have beaten KU only once and they’ve never won at Allen Fieldhouse. Texas has played within the spread in each of the last five games at the Phog and the Horns are riding a two-game ATS winning streak. Since losing to Baylor on Jan. 11, the Jayhawks have won six in a row going 4-2 ATS. And they are nearly unbeatable at home going 10-1 SU and 5-6 ATS.

Texas Longhorns

It was a great start to the season for the Horns opening with nine wins in their first 10 games. However, since the middle of December it’s been a drag and there are groans coming from the faithful. There were high hopes for this squad. With several key players returning they were expected to challenge for the top of the Big 12. Right now they are in the middle of the pack and they needed wins in their last two outings to get there.

The good news is that the Horns have won two in a row. The bad news is that the streak came after losing three straight and the offense continues to struggle. Their point total in a 72-68 win over Iowa State was an outburst for them. It was the first time they topped 70 in six games and the fifth-highest scoring game of the season. Texas is next to last in the Big 12 averaging 66.2 points per game. Their biggest issue is getting to the foul line. The Horns average a Big 12-low 11.7 free throw attempts and they haven’t converted in the few times they get to the stripe making only 65.3 percent of their foul shots.

You don’t win 14 games by chance, so they are doing something right. A stingy defense has offset their inability to score the basketball, and if the Horns aren’t locked in on that end the results are horrific. They allow only 63.6 points per game and held Kansas to 10 points below its season average in the first matchup. Unfortunately, the Horns couldn’t convert and lost 66-57. When they score 70 or more points in a game the Horns are 7-0.

Kansas Jayhawks

Getting one of their suspended players back helped with depth, and it also helped when foul trouble struck early in their last outing. David McCormack returned just in time to help Kansas run its winning streak to six with a close 78-75 decision over Texas AM on Saturday. With Udoka Azubuike limited by early fouls, McCormack entered to man the middle while supplying six points, six rebounds and three blocks in 19 minutes.

Kansas built a 44-35 first half lead and never trailed in the game despite limited contributions from Azubuike, who finished with five points in 16 minutes. That shows you just how lethal the Jayhawks can be when their second leading scorer does next to nothing and they still triumph. Azubuike averages 12.4 points and leads the Big 12 with 9.4 boards and a .760 shooting percentage. He hit 7 of 9 field goals for 17 points in the earlier win over Texas.

The Jayhawks don’t beat teams from behind the arc. Instead they use their backcourt combo of Devon Dotson and Marcus Garrett to drive the lane or feed the bigs in the post. It’s a strategy that’s worked. They lead the Big 12 scoring 76 points per game and they rank seventh nationally knocking down 49 percent of their shots. KU made 53.4 percent of its 2-point attempts to take down the Longhorns a few weeks ago with the league’s leading scorer Dotson dropping 21.

Bet Texas at Kansas at BookMaker.eu

The Horns haven’t had much success against the Jayhawks recently and they don’t have the horses to pull the upset. This one will likely be low scoring, which favors Texas, but the inability to score the basketball consistently will hurt them. And we’ve seen KU adapt and play different styles of ball, something the Horns can’t do.

College Basketball Score Prediction: Kansas 73, Texas 59

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- Phil Simon, Gambling911.com