Kentucky vs Kentucky | NCAAB Predictions & Preview Game

No question the marquee matchup of the college basketball weekend and the best non-conference game left before the NCAA Tournament is Saturday’s game between No. 12 Kentucky and No. 5 Kansas from Lawrence. KU will be a short favorite on the NCAAB odds.

How to Bet Kentucky at Kansas NCAA Basketball Odds & TV Info

When: Saturday, 6 PM ET
Where: Allen Fieldhouse
TV: ESPN
Stream: ESPN app
Radio: Tunein.com
Opening NCAAB Lines: TBA (Kansas will be favored)

Last Meeting

The schools played in the Champions Classic early in the 2020-21 season and Kansas won 65-62. The Jayhawks’ Jalen Wilson scored 21 of his 23 points in the second half – he’s still a key part of the team. Wilson was 8 of 16 from the field — the only player on either team with a shooting percentage of 50% or better. Ochai Agbaji added 17 points for Kansas, and Christian Braun had eight points and 13 rebounds. Davion Mintz had 12 for Kentucky and is still there. Mintz had a chance to tie it with five seconds to go but his 3-pointer was off the mark and Kansas grabbed the rebound.

Why Bet on Kentucky?

The Cats (16-4) played without star freshman point guard TyTy Washington (ankle) on Tuesday and beat Mississippi State 82-74 in OT. Kentucky’s Oscar Tshiebwe and Jacob Toppin went down in consecutive possessions with the same ankle injury midway through the second half of their overtime win but both are expected to be OK.

Tshiebwe totaled 21 points and 22 rebounds, UK’s first 20-20 game since Mike Phillips achieved the feat twice in 1976. It is his 14th double-double of the season, ranking third in the nation in that category. It is his seventh 20-point game and fifth 20-rebound game of the season, but the first time in the same contest. He has grabbed double-figure boards in all but two games this season. Tshiebwe was one of 15 players selected to the Naismith Men’s Defensive Player of the Year Watch List on Thursday. Tshiebwe led the country in rebounds per game (15.2), offensive rebounds per game (5.2) and defensive rebounding percentage (36.3%).

Kellan Grady had 18 points Tuesday, including UK’s first eight points of overtime. Over the last 11 games he is averaging 14.5 points per game while shooting 47.8 percent from the field (54 of 113), including 44.8 percent (39 of 87) from 3-point range. Sahvir Wheeler notched 15 points and six assists. Since returning from injury, he has averaged 16.3 points over the last four games.

Kentucky won the rebounding battle 44-33 and won second-chance points, 13-3. UK is 16-1 this season when outrebounding the opponent, 13 of which have been by double-figure margins. Kentucky won despite having a season-high 17 turnovers for the third time this season. UK has won all three games, vs. Albany, at Texas A&M and then vs. MSU.

There’s a good chance Washington plays in this game. Washington was a five-star recruit and the No. 15 overall player in the 2021 signing class, according to the industry-generated 247Sports Composite. ESPN ranks Washington as the No. 11 prospect for this year’s NBA Draft. He is averaging 13.6 points, 3.9 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game, while shooting 39.7 percent from three-point range. He had a game with 17 assists earlier this season, a school record.

Why Bet on Kansas?

Kansas (17-2) won a wild 94-91 double-overtime game against Texas Tech on Monday. Ochai Agbaji scored a career-high 37 points to help Kansas avenge its only conference loss of the season. Agbaji, the reigning co-Big 12 Player of the Week, had seven of Kansas’ eight made 3-pointers. He had 24 points in the second half and two overtimes. Agbaji hit a guarded 3-pointer near the end of the first overtime to send the game to another period.

He now has 1,325 career points which puts him at 31st on the all-time KU scoring list, passing Walter Wesley. Agbaji has scored 20 or more points in five of his last six games and 12 times this season. His 37 points were the most by a KU player since Andrew Wiggins scored 41 points on March 8, 2014 at West Virginia. It was the most in Allen Fieldhouse in the Bill Self era and the third most overall in the Self era (Elijah Johnson-39 points on Feb. 25, 2013 at Iowa State).

Jalen Wilson had a game-high 11 rebounds to go along with nine points and a career-high-tying three steals (Jan. 8, 2022 at Texas Tech). He has at least 10 rebounds in consecutive games for the first time this season and for the fourth time overall this year (15th time in his career).

Kansas secured a season-high-tying 50 rebounds (at Oklahoma State on Jan. 4). It was the first time since the 2011-12 season that KU has had two 50+ rebounding games in conference play. The Jayhawks held a 50-38 advantage on the boards.

Kansas grabbed 16 offensive rebounds on Monday. KU has secured 10+ offensive rebounds in seven of its last eight games and 13 times this season. Kansas made 22 free throws against Texas Tech, matching its season high (vs. Missouri on Dec. 11, 2021). The Jayhawks have made 20+ free throws in back-to-back games for the first time since Nov. 27-Dec. 1, 2020 vs. St. Joseph’s/vs. Kentucky.

It marks the first time KU has made 20+ free throws in consecutive games in the same season in conference play since they did it in three straight games from Feb. 28, 2015-March 7, 2015 vs. Texas/vs. West Virginia/at Oklahoma.

Kansas is 9-0 at home this season.