The Kansas Jayhawks enter Saturday’s game against the Oklahoma Sooners having lost two of their past three games and are in search of a road win on Saturday to keep their hopes of a conference championship alive.
Kansas Jayhawks (-3, 143) vs. Oklahoma Sooners
While the Sooners are also looking to ascend in the conference standings, as they enter Saturday with a 6-6 Big XII Conference record, they are also looking to avenge the 78-66 loss they took on the road against Kansas on January 13.
In their first meeting against Kansas, Oklahoma had 11 turnovers to Kansas’ two and will look to their increased efficiency at home to iron this out. Overall this season, Oklahoma is 24th in points allowed on a per possession basis and 59th in points scored per possession, have been far better at home on both ends of the court.
Oklahoma is allowing 13.8 points fewer per 100 possessions at home than in a road or neutral court environment on defense and scoring 13.2 points more per 100 possessions at home than in a road or neutral court setting.
While the defense for Kansas has been solid regardless of location this season, the offense has had scuffled the past three games with 70 points or fewer in all three games with the 70 points they scored against Kansas State coming in a game that went to overtime.
Much of the reason for Kansas the past three games is the absence of leader in points per game Kevin McCullar, who appears to be on-track to return to the starting lineup on Saturday, but has yet to be definitively declared a go for Saturday.
Even if McCullar can play on Saturday, he is unlikely to be at 100 percent, and if his averages of 19.5 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 4.6 assists per game are impacted, that could be the difference in the game.
Even when McCullar plays, the Jayhawks have experienced some pretty big offensive home and road splits this season, ranking 84th in the nation in points scored on a per possession basis, but averaging 14.5 points fewer per 100 possessions when away from home and rank 180th in points scored per possession away from home.
In the first matchup with Oklahoma, the Jayhawks shot 3-of-15 from 3-point range and while that mark should improve on Saturday, they do face a Sooners defense that is ninth in the country in opponent 3-point shooting percentage at 28.9%.
With Oklahoma also having an advantage on the glass, ranking 31st in rebound rate while Kansas is 93rd in this category, the Sooners will hand the struggling Jayhawks another loss and get revenge on Saturday.
The Play: Oklahoma +136 Moneyline
