Oregon vs Kansas Elite 8 NCAAB Lines, Expert Pick & TV Info

Posted by Michael Hunt on Friday,March 24, 2017 11:58, EDT in

Saturday’s Elite Eight action concludes in what essentially will be a home game for Midwest Region No. 1 Kansas as the Jayhawks face No. 3 Oregon in Kansas City on Saturday for a trip to the Final Four. Oregon hasn’t been to the national semifinals since winning the first-ever NCAA Tournament in 1939. Oddsmakers don’t favor the Ducks to get back in the March Madness lines.

Oregon vs Kansas Elite 8 NCAAB Lines, Expert Pick & TV Info

When: Saturday, March 25, 8:50 PM ET
Where: Sprint Center, Kansas City
TV: TBS
Stream: March Madness Live
Radio: Oregon / Kansas
Opening NCAAB Lines: Kansas -6.5 (158.5)

Why Bet On Oregon?

The Ducks were 1-point underdogs against No. 7 Michigan on Thursday and won 69-68. Tyler Dorsey Dorsey scored 20 points and made the go-ahead layup with 1:08 left. He’s scored 20 or more points in six straight games, a stretch that has seen Pac-12 player of the year Dillon Brooks struggle with his shot. Dorsey didn’t score 20 points in consecutive games at all in the regular season.

Oregon didn’t have the win secured until Derrick Walton Jr. was off with his 3-pointer just before the buzzer. The game was back and forth all night. The first half featured eight ties and eight lead changes, and by the final buzzer the lead had changed hands eight more times, including four times in the final 4 minutes.

Jordan Bell had a double-double for the Ducks, with 16 points and 13 rebounds. Brooks added 12 points and Tyler Ennis had 10. Brooks now holds UO career records for points (125), field goals made (50) and attempted (103), and assists (27). Bell is the program’s all-time leader in NCAA Tournament rebounds (85) and blocks (21).

The Ducks’ run to the regional final has come without big man Chris Boucher, who went out in the Pac- 12 Tournament semifinals with a season-ending knee injury. Oregon still outrebounded Michigan and outscored it 34-16 in the paint.

Bell’s presence is the reason why Boucher’s absence isn’t the missing piece to the Ducks’ potential in making the Final Four. Bell grabbed an Ennis missed free throw attempt to pull the Ducks to within 68-67 with 1:47 left. With a one-point lead, Bell grabbed a rebound on a Brooks miss with 17 seconds left, allowing Oregon to run more clock before the Wolverines had to foul.

The Ducks have made it to the NCAA Tournament’s Elite Eight three times in the past 15 seasons, falling short of the Final Four each time. In 2002, Oregon fell to Roy Williams’ Kansas Jayhawks, and in 2007, the Ducks fell to a Florida dynasty that won back-to- back NCAA national championships. Last season, Oregon looked like it could finally break through to college basketball’s final weekend after beating Duke to reach the Elite Eight, but the No. 1-seeded Ducks fell to Oklahoma.

Why Bet On Kansas?

The lone blowout of Thursday’s Sweet 16 action was Kansas stomping No. 4 Purdue 98-66, KU’s third game in this tournament with at least 90 points. The Jayhawks are scoring a whole lot of points in the NCAA Tournament, but historically that hasn’t translated into titles for very many teams. Only the 1989 Michigan Wolverines have gone on to win the championship after scoring 90 points or more in the first three games of the tournament.

Against Purdue, Frank Mason and Devonte Graham each had 26 points. Graham has now made four 3-pointers in each of the Jayhawks' three tournament games, a first since Stephen Curry did the same for Davidson. And Graham is only the fourth player to accomplish the feat. Mason became the sixth player to record at least 25 points, seven rebounds and seven assists in an NCAA Tournament game since assists became official in 1984. With its 32-point victory, Kansas becomes just the sixth team to win its first three games in the NCAA Tournament by 20 points or more.

Freshman Josh Jackson had 15 points and 12 rebounds as the Jayhawks (31-4) turned a seven-point halftime lead into their third consecutive blowout in the NCAA Tournament. The Jayhawks were 15 of 28 from beyond the arc, setting a school record for makes in an NCAA Tournament game. The Jayhawks’ last win over a No. 4 seed was against Southern Illinois, 61-58, in 2007. They lost to No. 4 seed Michigan, 87-85 (OT), in 2013.

KU hasn’t been to the Final Four since 2012. It is the first team since UConn in 1995 to score at least 90 points each of its first three games. It’s KU’s seventh Elite Eight appearance under Bill Self. The school has lost four of those six games, three in which they were the better seed, including the 2011 embarrassment when the No. 1 Jayhawks lost by double-digits to 11th-seeded VCU. There was last year, when No. 1 Kansas fell to No. 2 Villanova. In 2007, KU, again a No. 1, fell to No. 2 UCLA. And then in 2004 when Kansas was under-seeded at No. 4 and lost in overtime to No. 3 Georgia Tech. KU and Oregon haven’t played since 2003.

Oregon vs Kansas Elite 8 Expert Pick: Kansas Jayhawks

Sprint Center is less than an hour’s drive from Lawrence, so the arena will be filled with Kansas fans. That will be enough to just cover. Ducks are 1-5- 1 ATS in their last 7 games vs. a team with a winning straight up record. Jayhawks are 6-1 ATS in their last 7 NCAA Tournament games.