Pick on the spread for Texas-Kansas on February 6

The Kansas Jayhawks find themselves in a rare position: outside of first place in the Big XII Conference as they prepare to host the team currently atop the standings, the Texas Longhorns.

Texas Longhorns vs. Kansas Jayhawks (-3.5, 146.5)

Despite the off-court turmoil with the firing of coach Chris Beard, Texas has found a way to get by with wins in seven of their last eight games in conference play.

For Kansas, they’ve lost four of their last five games against Big XII competition, but have an All-American candidate in Jalen Wilson who can swing the tide.

For the season, Wilson is averaging 21.5 points and 8.6 rebounds on 35.5% 3-point shooting and enters Monday having scored at least 20 points in six straight games, averaging 26.5 points and 7.7 rebounds on 41.3% 2-point shooting during that span.

What Wilson and teammate Kevin McCullar Jr. provide on the glass lends an edge to Kansas, as their combined 16.5 rebounds per game are more than the 13.5 rebounds per game Texas gets from their top three players combined in that category. Overall, Texas ranks 151st in the country in rebound rate while Kansas is 110th in this category.

A Texas defense that has regressed greatly will have its hands full as the team is allowing more than 15.5 points per 100 possessions more since the calendar flipped to 2023 than they did in November and December.

The Longhorns’ offense also has demonstrative home and road splits, averaging 16.4 points per 100 possessions fewer in a road or neutral court environment than at home with their 3-point shooting percentage going from 35% at home to 29.4% away from home.

These teams enter into Monday’s clash going in opposite directions, but returning home is exactly what the Jayhawks need to soar up the conference standings.

The Play: Kansas -3.5

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