The Kansas Jayhawks go for their seventh straight victory when they visit Oklahoma State in a Big Monday matchup
on ESPN. Game time is 8 PM ET at Gallagher-Iba Arena. The total has gone UNDER in 7 of the Cowboys last 10 at home.
The Big 12 leading
Jayhawks are favored by -9.5 in the NCAA basketball odds with the total at 137.
Kansas
(24-5, 14-13-1 ATS) is 14-2 in conference play
including a stunning 85-86 overtime victory over Missouri on Saturday. Now with
a victory over Oklahoma State, the Jayhawks can ensure an outright title and
guarantee themselves a No. 1 seed at next week’s conference tournament.
In the
scintillating OT victory over Mizzou, Thomas Robinson and Tyshawn Taylor were
the stars. Robinson scored 28 points while Taylor drained a pair of go ahead free
throws with 8.3 seconds remaining helping KU erase a 19-point second half
deficit, its biggest of the season.
All five Kansas starters
are averaging 8.9 points or more per contest. Leading the way is Robinson, who
is averaging 17.8 points and 11.9 rebounds per game. Taylor is chipping in with
16.7 points per game while dishing out five assists per contest.
Overall Kansas is
averaging 75.1 points per game while allowing 61.2 ppg. KU is also seventh in
the nation in shooting defense (38.1 ppg).
Oklahoma State (14-5 SU, 14-12-1 ATS) is 7-9 in Big 12 play and have already surpassed last season’s league win
total with two games remaining. The Cowboys are coming off a 60-42 rout of
Texas A&M. The Aggies 42 points were one point of the fewest in a Big 12
game by an OSU opponent since the league formed 1996-97. Brian Williams had 17
points on 7 of 11 shooting while Keiton Page who will be honored tonight on
senior night, added 15 points.
Page leads the
Pokes in scoring (16.2 ppg overall) and in Big 12 play (18 ppg). Markel Brown
is averaging 10.7 points per game while leading the team in assists (65), and
is second on the team in rebounds (153) and steals (38).
Entering tonight’s
game, OSU is in seventh place in the league standings, but could finish as high as fifth. The teams that finish 7th through
10th in the Big 12 standings will play on the first day of the Big 12
Championship in Kansas City on Wednesday, March 7. The top-six teams will
receive a first-round bye and play on Thursday, March 8.
Coaches
The head coach of
the Jayhawks is Bill Self, a 1985 graduate of Oklahoma State. He is 261-51 in
his ninth season as the coach at KU and is 468-156 in his 19th season overall
as a Division I head coach.
Travis Ford is in
his fourth season as the head man for the Oklahoma State Cowboys. In just three
seasons at the helm of OSU hoops, he’s already led the Pokes to a pair of NCAA
tournament appearances and eight victories over top-25 opponents. Ford, now in his
15th season as a head coach, is 269-196 overall including 79-52 at OSU.
Series History
Kansas leads the
all-time series with Oklahoma State 105-53, including a 33-31 edge in
Stillwater. The Cowboys have won the last two meetings inside Gallagher-Iba
Arena, and both times, the Jayhawks were ranked in the top-five nationally.
Since the Big 12 formed in 1996-97, OSU is 4-12 against KU in regular-season
games, including a 4-3 mark in Stillwater and an 0-9 record in Lawrence. OSU
has a 2-4 mark against Kansas in the Big 12 Championship.
Trends
Kansas has won six
straight, including three on the road. However Oklahoma State has won two
straight and three of its last four at home against the Jayhawks.
The Jayhawks are
7-2 on the road this season, 6-6-1 ATS and 11-0-2 to the ‘under’. The Cowboys
are 11-3 at home, 6-5-1 ATS and 8-4 to the ‘under’.
Harvey’s
Take: There’s plenty of motivation for Kansas tonight but I’m curious how much
gas they’ll have left in the tank after Saturday’s emotional victory. I’ve got
the Jayhawks to win, the Cowboys to cover and the game to slide ‘under’ the
title in my NCAA basketball picks.
Good luck.