Buckle up for a wild Saturday night of college hoops action, as the No. 20 Kentucky Wildcats and the No. 4 Kansas Jayhawks lock horns at Allen Fieldhouse. Which among these two heavyweights will emerge victorious? Will the Wildcats continue their winning ways? Or will the Jayhawks get back on track?
Read on below for a complete breakdown of this rivalry game. And while you’re at it, you can check out our preview of the Oklahoma Sooners vs. LSU Tigers.
[sc:MarchMadness ]Kentucky Wildcats vs. Kansas Jayhawks Preview
Where: Allen Fieldhouse, Lawrence, Kansas
When: Saturday, January 30, 2016, 7:00 PM ET
Line: Kentucky Wildcats at Kansas Jayhawks– view all NCAA Basketball lines
TV Broadcast: ESPN
Betting on the Kentucky Wildcats (16-4, 6-2 SEC)
[sc:NCAAB240banner ]Dominant. That would be the best word to describe Kentucky’s 34-point triumph over Missouri on Wednesday night. Starring in that game were Tyler Ulis and Derek Willis, who combined for 38 points, 14 rebounds and 9 assists.
With the win, the 20th-ranked Wildcats have won five of their last six games and head into their much-anticipated clash with the No. 20 Kansas Jayhawks riding a three-game winning streak. Kentucky is 7-3 SU and 5-5 ATS in its previous 10 contests on the road.
Ulis, a sophomore point guard, has been simply phenomenal for the Wildcats and is expected to have his imprints all over this upcoming game. He’s played well as a play-maker and as a facilitator with averages of 15.5 PPG and a team-high of 6.1 APG. But Ulis won’t be the only player that the Jayhawks will have to be very worried about.
There’s still Kentucky’s top point-getter in Jamal Murray. Murray, who is posting 17.5 PPG and 4.8 RPG across 20 games, has finished with 11 or more points in all but one game this year. He’ll also be marching into this game having scored 20-plus points in three of his last seven games. That stretch includes their outing versus Mississippi State on January 12, where he had 22 points and went 5-for-11 from beyond the arc.
Both Ulis and Murray are set to test a Kansas defense that’s surrendering almost 70 points per game thus far this season.
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Betting on the Kansas Jayhawks (16-4, 5-3 Big 12)
The Jayhawks walk into this game as losers of two of their last three games. The latest one happened at the hands of the Iowa State Cyclones, who outscored them by 20 points in the second half to eventually capture the 85-72 win Monday night. Perry Ellis provided a valiant performance with 23 points on 10-of-18 shooting, but his efforts were unfortunately laid to waste.
Moving on, Ellis and co. will now set their sights on a bounce back game when they play host to their arch-nemesis in the 20th-ranked Kentucky Wildcats. Kansas, however, has lost its previous three meetings with the Wildcats and has gone 0-3 ATS in that stretch.
In order for the Jayhawks to avoid falling short in this one, they’ll need Ellis to continue playing at a high level. The 22-year-old senior forward is putting up a team-best of 16.7 PPG and is coming off back-to-back 20-point games versus Texas and Iowa State. In his last five games, he’s averaging 18.6 PPG and 5.6 RPG while shooting the rock at a sizzling rate of 52 percent.
Over on defense, the Jayhawks can’t afford to mess up any defensive assignments opposite the Wildcats, who are scoring almost 80 points per game this season. Kansas is allowing 75.0 PPG in its last five outings.
Writer’s Prediction
Kentucky wins it, 72-69.
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