Kansas vs. West Virginia Pick
Will No. 12 Kansas go on the road and pick up an upset victory over No. 2 West Virginia tonight at 9PM ET?
According to oddsmakers at Bovada.lv, West Virginia opened as a 4-point favorite, but has climbed up to a 7.5-point favorite currently against Kansas. The over/under total for the contest is listed at 157 points. Tonight’s game takes place from the WVU Coliseum in Morgantown, West Virginia and will air live on ESPN.
Kansas has won three straight coming into this game, including a narrow 73-72 win over Kansas State at home this past weekend. The Jayhawks are 14-3 overall, 4-1 in the Big 12 and 9-7 against the spread. Kansas is scoring 85.8 points per game this year while allowing 70.2 per contest. Devonte’ Graham is leading Kansas with 18.4 points and 7.4 assists per game while Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk is adding 16.5 points per game.
West Virginia is coming off a 72-71 loss at Texas Tech to snap a 15-game win streak. The Mountaineers are now 15-2 overall, 4-1 in the Big 12 and 7-6 against the spread. WVU has covered in four of its five conference games. That’s largely due to its press defense, which is holding opponents to just 65.4 points per game. On offense, WVU averages 82.1 per contest. Esa Ahmad was finally able to join the team this past weekend and he put up 18 points and 6 rebounds against Tech. Jevon Carter has been leading the team all season with 16.8 points, 5.4 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 3.6 steals per game.
Bet on Kansas vs. West Virginia
Kansas has won six of the last 10 meetings with West Virginia, but the Mountaineers are 6-2 against the spread in the last eight encounters. The home team has been strong in this series as well, going 9-2 ATS in the last 11 encounters. The addition of Ahmad should only make the WVU defense stronger, as its another capable body. Kansas hasn’t looked good in recent weeks and I think the WVU defense will give it a lot of problems tonight. That’s a tough environment to play in in Morgantown. The public betting is slightly with Kansas, but I will take West Virginia at home.
CBB DAILY PREDICTION: WEST VIRGINIA -7.5