UConn Huskies vs. Kansas Jayhawks prediction, preview (9:00pm ET)
It’s been a couple of years since we’ve seen the Kansas Jayhawks priced as home underdogs on the hardwood, but that’s where we are on Tuesday night at Allen Fieldhouse. The Phog might be the toughest building in the country to play in, which makes the Jayhawks an uncomfortable fade. That said, I think everything else in this spot is working in UConn’s favor.
The Jayhawks are off a lot of travel in November, and got mixed results. Kansas lost a true road game at North Carolina, and then lost to Duke in New York City, both losses coming by double digits. But the Jayhawks were out in Las Vegas for the Players Era Tournament, and actually won the third-place game — which is pretty good considering the field. Michigan defeated Gonzaga in the Championship Game, while Kansas took down Notre Dame and Syracuse as a short favorite, followed by Tennessee as a 5.5-point underdog in its final game. The 3-0 trip in Las Vegas was even more impressive considering it was three games in three days, all without Darryn Peterson.
That said, now the Jayhawks return home after a lot of travel and some big wins. That’s not always a great spot to be in — for example, fading the winner of the Maui Invitational in their next game has been a trend for ages (that would mean betting Oregon over USC tonight). Peterson has been ruled out once again for the Jayhawks, and I think reality is about to set in against the much better team.
UConn hasn’t had to take a flight yet this season, with its travel coming on bus trips to Boston (to face BYU) and NYC (to face Illinois), both of which were wins. I believe Dan Hurley and the Huskies will rally around this first true road game of the season, particularly after seeing Arizona come into Storrs and knock off the Huskies as underdogs.
UConn was down a couple of key pieces in the loss to the Wildcats, though. Tarris Reed, who starts at center and leads the Huskies in scoring and rebounding, missed that game, and came back strong against Illinois on Friday. UConn is a deep, experienced and versatile team, and I expect Kansas to struggle to find offense at times against a lockdown defense.
While I respect Bill Self and Kansas playing at home, I feel this is a rare spot that returning home off some success in Las Vegas might be working against the Jayhawks a bit. To add on top of that, two years ago Hurley took his No. 1 ranked Huskies on this very road trip to Kansas. They Jayhawks won by four points. Hurley is a mad man and will be seeking revenge this time around.
