Game 17: Texas at No. 7 Kansas – Preview and Prediction

After a win over Baylor on Saturday, the Kansas Jayhawks turn their focus to a Big Monday matchup with the Texas Longhorns. The Jayhawks have won 14 of the last 15 matchups with Texas, with the last loss coming back in February of 2014. The Jayhawks looked very good against Baylor for about 59 minutes. Outside of the last minute of play, the Jayhawks finally looked like a team that is starting to put it together.

AUDIO PREVIEW: LINK (go to 62:15 mark of podcast for preview)

Game Info and Notes:

• Monday, January 14th, 2019 at 8:00 PM CDT
• Allen Fieldhouse, Lawrence, Kan.
• ESPN or WatchESPN App
• No. 7/9 Kansas (14-2, 3-1) returns home to host Texas (10-6, 2-2) on ESPN Big Monday, Jan. 14, at 8 p.m. (Central). Kansas is coming off a 73-68 win at Baylor on Jan. 12. Texas looks to end a two-game losing streak after its 68-62 loss to No. 8/8 Texas Tech Jan. 12
• Kansas leads the overall series with Texas, 31-8, including a 16-1 record in Lawrence (14-1 in Allen Fieldhouse). KU has won the last nine meetings with UT, but the last three have been decided by 10 points or less.
• Since the inception of the Big 12 in 1996-97, Kansas is 65-18 all-time on ESPN Big Monday (37-1 at home and 28-17 on the road), including 45-12 under head coach Bill Self (26-0 at home and 19-12 on the road). KU has won 30 straight Big Monday games in Allen Fieldhouse. Overall, KU has won its last 10 ESPN Big Monday contests.
• Kansas has had six different players lead the team in scoring over the last eight game: Quentin Grimes, Devon Dotson, Udoka Azubuike, Dedric Lawson, Charlie Moore and Lagerald Vick.
• Lawson had five blocked shots and five steals at Baylor (1/12). He became just the third player in Big 12 history to tally 5+ blocks and 5+ steals in a single game, joining Baylor’s Quincy Acy in 2008 and Baylor’s Brian Skinner in 1996.

About the Longhorns

Texas has had an up-and-down season to date. They have wins over North Carolina, Arkansas, Purdue and Kansas State, but then have ugly losses to Radford, VCU and Oklahoma State. They come into Monday’s matchup on a two-game slide, with their latest loss coming at the hands to Texas Tech on Saturday. A trip to Allen Fieldhouse shouldn’t help a struggling Texas squad.

Longhorns to Watch

Kerwin Roach II – Senior, Guard, 6’4″
The highflyer is having his best season to date. He leads the ‘Horns in scoring at 13.5 PPG and has scored 17 and 18 pts respectively over his last two games. He’s chipping in with 5.0 RPG and 3.6 APG, while shooting 42 percent from the field. Last season he averaged 16.5 PPG in two games against the Jayhawks. Texas will need Roach to be on his game if they stand a chance on Monday night.

Jaxson Hayes – Freshman, Forward, 6’11″
Hayes has a solid freshman season so far, averaging 10.1 PPG and 5.1 RPG. He’s also been a good rim protector, swatting away 2.5 shots per game. Without Udoka Azubuike, KU could have its hands full trying to guard the 6’11, 220 lbs. freshman.

Prediction

Kansas 73 – Texas 62

The Jayhawks looked very good for about 59 minutes on Saturday. I like them to carry that over against an opponent like Texas. Self has owned Shaka Smart since the 2011 Elite Eight. I don’t see that changing on Monday night, especially at Allen Fieldhouse. One of the recipes to upsetting KU at Allen Fieldhouse is to shoot the ball well from three, and Texas does not do that. They have one player who shoots better than 35%, which is Jase Fabres, and he only plays 23.1 minutes per game.

Ochai Agbaji has injected some life into this KU team; he has instantly become one of its best 4-5 players. I love the energy he brings for the table, so I expect his strong play to keep up.

Give me KU to win comfortably and improve to 4-1 in Big 12 play.