Game 31: No. 1 Kansas at Texas Tech – Preview and Prediction

March 6, 2020 Bobby Norell

The No. 1 Kansas Jayhawks look to clinch the Big 12 outright on Saturday afternoon when they travel to Lubbock to close out the regular season against Texas Tech. The Jayhawks are coming off a Senior Night win over TCU, where they needed a big second half to get past the Horned Frogs hot shooting. Texas Tech is stumbling to the finish line, as they’ve lost three-straight. A win over KU would greatly help their chances at the NCAA Tournament.

Saturday, March 6, 2020, 1:00 pm CDT
United Supermarkets Arena — Lubbock, Texas
ESPN or ESPN App (No Fran again!)
Kansas has clinched at least a share of its NCAA-leading 62nd overall and Big 12-leading 19th conference regular-season title
Kansas’ 15-game winning streak is the third-longest nationally. It is also the sixth-longest in the Bill Self era (since 2003-04)
KU’s 14-game Big 12 winning streak is the longest by a Kansas team since the final conference game of the 2008-09 season and the first 13 league contests of the 2009-10 when the Jayhawks won 14-straight.
Kansas ranks first in the Big 12 in field goal percentage at 48.7%, while Texas Tech is second at 45.5%.
Kansas leads the overall series with Texas Tech, 35-6, and has won three of the last four and 19 of the last 21 meetings, yet the series is KU 3-2 in the last five matchups.
KU is No. 1 in the NET rankings as of March 5 games. The Jayhawks’ strength of schedule is also No. 1. Kansas is one of only two schools (Baylor) with 11 Quadrant 1 wins. KU’s 19 Q1 and Q2 combined wins are more than any other school.
Kansas ranks in the top-10 nationally in win percentage (fourth at 90.0), field goal percentage defense (fourth at 37.7%), scoring margin (sixth at +14.2), scoring defense (ninth at 60.7) and field goal percentage (ninth at 48.7%)
Devon Dotson, one of five finalists for the Bob Cousy Award, leads the Big 12 in scoring at 18.2 ppg. He is looking to become the fifth Jayhawk and the eighth underclassman to be the league’s top scorer

Red Raiders to Watch

Jahmi’us Ramsey – Freshman, Guard, 6’4″
The freshman leads Tech in scoring at 15.4 PPG and is shooting 44.5 percent from the field and 42.3 percent from three-point land. In the initial matchup with KU, he went for 26 points in Allen Fieldhouse. Ramsey can fill it up.

Davide Moretti – Junior, Guard, 6’3”
Moretti is a deadly sharpshooter. He had just nine points against KU back on February 1 and was 1-5 from three-point land. It’d be hard to bank on Moretti having two off games in a row against Kansas.

Prediction

Kansas has a shot to win the Big 12 outright and set a Big 12 record for most league wins in a season. That should be enough motivation to go out there and close out the regular season with a W. On the other side, Texas Tech is on the bubble, and a win over the No. 1 team in the land would certainly solidify their spot in the field.

The bum ankle Udoka Azubuike suffered against K-State last week did not slow him down AT ALL, as he went for a career-high 31 points in the Senior Night win against TCU on Wednesday. KU’s two stars, Azubuike and Devon Dotson, are playing at a very high level. Marcus Garrett continues to do Marcus Garrett things, while guys like Isaiah Moss and Christian Braun can hurt you easily.

Give me the Jayhawks to win by getting just enough from Dotson and Azubuike, but I like the Red Raiders to cover. This one will go down to the wire.

Kansas 71, Texas Tech 69
TTU +3.5

AUDIO PREVIEW: LINK

Season Record: 27-3 (18-12 ATS)