Posted on
1/14/2008 2:58:54 PM
NCAA Basketball Betting – Oklahoma at Kansas
By Charles Jay
BetUS NCAA basketball betting odds: KANSAS -16.5
The Oklahoma Sooners (12-4 SU, 8-5 ATS) will have their work cut out for them on Monday night when they travel to the Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence to take on the Kansas Jayhawks (16-0 SU, 9-4-1 ATS) in NCAA basketball betting action televised by ESPN starting at 9 PM ET.
In the BetUS NCAAB betting odds, Kansas is a 16.5-point favorite.
Here are some of the NCAAB betting trends and stats relative to this matchup:
* OKLA has won five of its last 19 road games SU
* OKLA has covered four of its last 21 road games
* OKLA has won five of its last six games SU
* KAN has covered four of its last five games
* KAN has covered five of its last seven home games
* KAN has played four of its last five games OVER the total
* OKLA has covered five of the last seven meetings
* KAN has won four of the last five meetings SU
* KAN has won four of the last five meetings SU as the home team
* Six of the last nine meetings have gone UNDER the total
* Five of the last six meetings at Lawrence have gone UNDER the total
* KAN has had the shooting edge in each of the last five meetings
* KAN is shooting 52.2% FG's (2nd in nation)
* KAN is averaging 11.1 steals a game
* KAN averages 7.5 three-pointers per game
* KAN has a +25.1 point differential
* OKLA is shooting 48.2% FG's
* OKLA allows 39% shooting by opponents
* OKLA is averaging 75.1 points per game
Blake Griffin, the scintillating Sooner frosh, can fill up the hoop, that's for sure, but if Oklahoma wants to get into a horse race with third-ranked Kansas, it may be barking up the wrong tree. The Jayhawks are tallying almost 84 points a game and shooting 52%, second-highest in the nation. And Oklahoma, with its so-so +1.1 assist-turnover ratio, is going to run into problems with an aggressive, opportunistic Kansas pressure defense that has stolen the ball 11.1 times a game, second nationally only to the Tennessee Volunteers.
Is it possible that Kansas' pre-season All-America Brandon Rush is ready to make his move? The 6'6" shooting guard, who's been slow to get back into the swing of things after knee surgery, scored 19 points against Nebraska on Saturday, as Kansas hit 54% of its shots against the nation's stingiest defense (Nebraska leads the NCAA with 33% FG's allowed).
Oklahoma has not been a very good traveler. The Sooners have covered just four of their last 21 road games; however this season the results haven't been all bad - aside from an eleven-point loss at USC, the Sooners scored a thrilling double overtime win over Bob Huggins' West Virginia Mountaineers, who were nationally-ranked at the time.
And Kansas, despite out-scoring opponents by 25 points a game, haven't put a whole lot of distance between themselves and quality programs, winning by margins of four over USC and Arizona, and five over Georgia Tech.
Oklahoma, seeking some redemption after a 64-47 loss to the Jayhawks in last year's Big 12 tourney, can hang here. We'll take the Sooners, the 16.5-point underdog in the BetUS college basketball betting odds.
JAY'S PLAY: OKLAHOMA
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(Charles Jay of TotalActionExtra.com will get on a hot streak, "sooner" or later. He currently is a regular contributor to the BetUS Locker Room)