On Thursday night, the Kansas Jayhawks (23-6,12-4) will host the TCU Horned Frogs (19-9.8-8) at Allen FieldHouse for a rematch in the Big 12 Conference. In their last matchup in Fort Worth, Kansas was outmatched by the Horned Frogs, losing 74-64, bringing their losing streak to two. Meanwhile, TCU picked up a huge conference win and brought their winning streak to two games. This should be another good matchup as both teams are looking to finish the Big 12 season strong.
TCU Horned FrogsBetting Preview: TCU Finishing Strong in Big 12 Play
After upsetting two nationally-ranked teams: Texas Tech and Kansas, TCU comes into this matchup on a bit of a hot streak. Be that as it may, they will certainly need to clean things up as both of those wins were at home, and they head on the road where Kansas has only lost one contest.
This season, TCU has been a subpar offensive club, averaging 68.4 points per game on 44.1 percent shooting from the field. Despite shooting only 38.4 percent from the field, TCU’s Mike Miles leads all scorers with 15.3 points per game. The Horned Frogs have the best offensive rebounding rate in the Big 12, yet their adjusted offensive rating of 96.0 ranks them eighth in the league. TCU’s offense has been hampered by turnovers and bad free-throw shooting and ranks dead last in the conference in those categories.
Keep an eye on TCU crashing the boards as they are ranked No. 2 in the country in offensive rebounding, and it has the top defensive rebounding rate in the Big 12 during conference play. The Horned Frogs do an excellent job of forcing opponents off the three-point line, with opponents making only 31% of their perimeter shots despite restricted attempts.
Kansas Jayhawks Betting Preview: Jayhawks Looking to End Two-Game Skid at Home
This season, the Kansas Jayhawks have been dominant, going 23-6 (12-4) overall. So far, they’ve been carried by senior guard and potential player of the year Ochai Agbaji. Be that as it may, they just suffered a loss to Baylor and then another 74-64 loss on the road to the TCU Horned Frogs. They will get another shot at TCU at home in this matchup as they look to finish the season strong.
Ochai Agbaji leads the team in scoring, averaging 20.1 points per game, and again led their scoring effort in Fort Worth, scoring 13 points and was one of four players to score in double figures. The Jayhawks’ offense is fantastic as they have a season scoring average of 120.9 points per 100 possessions, which ranks fourth in the NCAA. In the conference, Kansas also has the greatest 3-point shooting percentage (35.4%) and the second-best offensive rebounding rate (35.0%).
On the other hand, the defense needs to improve their consistency, as they allow 42 percent of shots to fall against them and give up 68.8 points per game, which ranks 155th in the league. The Jayhawks haven’t been as stingy on defense as they have been in prior seasons. They have the highest effective field goal percentage defense in the conference (45.1%), but an adjusted defensive rating of 99.0 places them seventh in the league.
Betting Odds and Lines
MyBookie has the Kansas Jayhawks listed as the -11.5 point home favorite, while the total number of points is at 143.5 in the latest odds.
Free Betting Pick
Following their defeat to TCU on Tuesday, the Kansas Jayhawks should enter this game with a sour taste in their mouth. Kansas plays incredibly well at home, where they have 14 wins and just one loss. However, the spread is extremely high here for losing their last two contests, in addition to losing to this team just a few days prior.
Kansas clearly has the more talented roster and more potent offense, but Texas Christian is a scrappy team that plays hard and hammers the boards. The Horned Frogs are 6-1-1 ATS as the away team this year and 9-3-1 ATS as an underdog. I like them to keep this one within striking distance.
BetUSASports Free Pick: TCU +11.5
