No. 5 Texas @ No. 11 Kansas Monday night - Pick and Props

The No. 5 Texas Longhorns visit the No. 9 Kansas Jayhawks in Monday’s NCAA game of the night. Texas is coming off of big wins over No. 11 Baylor and No. 7 Kansas State and will try to make it a trifecta of beating ranked teams in the past week. Kansas dropped three straight games to ranked teams in January, then got back-to-back wins over Kentucky and Kansas State, and then lost at No. 13 Iowa State on Saturday. This is going to be a battle. 

Texas is 4-1 against the spread over their last five games and while both wins were close, the fact they beat Baylor by five last Monday and won 69-66 at Kansas State on Saturday is really saying something. 

Senior guard Marcus Carr leads the Longhorns at 16.4 points per game with 4.0 assists, 1.7 steals and just 1.7 turnovers per game. Oddly, senior guard Sir’Jabari Rice is second on the team in scoring at 11.1 ppg despite coming off the bench on most nights. Forward Timmy Allen and guard Tyrese Hunter both average over 10 points per game and Allen is the team’s leading rebounder at 5.1 per game and is second in assists at 3.5. Forward Dylan Disu is scoring just 6.9 ppg but leads the team in blocks with 1.5 a night.

Despite coming off the bench, Rice led the team with 21 points, six rebounds and four 3-pointers in last Monday’s win over Baylor, Allen scored 18 with six rebounds and four assists, and Hunter had 13 points, three 3-pointers and three steals in that one. Disu also played a nice role in that win with five points, four rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block in that one. 

Against Kansas State on Saturday, Rice once again led the way with 14 points, 10 rebounds and two 3-pointers in just 18 minutes, Reserve forward Christian Bishop also scored 14 with six boards, and starters Allen, Hunter and Carr all scored 10 points in that one. Carr could be due for a breakout tonight after scoring just 10, five and 11 points in his previous three games. Prior to that, he had scored at least 20 points in three of his previous four games. 

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Kansas is 2-5 against the spread over its last five games and is led by forward Jalen Wilson at 21.5 points and 8.6 rebounds per game. Gradey Dick averages 14.2 ppg with five rebounds and 1.5 steals, and forward K.J. Adams Jr. averages 10.4 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.0 blocks for the Jayhawks. Senior guard Kevin McCullar Jr. averages 10.3 points and 7.9 rebounds, and leads the team with 2.4 steals per game.

In last Tuesday’s win over K-State, Wilson led the way with 20 points, eight rebounds, four assists, a steal and four 3-pointers despite hitting just 5-of-15 shots. Junior guard DaJuan Harris scored 18 with two triples on 7-of-12 shooting, and McCullar hit 2-of-10 shots, two threes and 10-of-12 free throws for 16 points to go along with 13 rebounds. 

In Saturday’s ugly 68-53 loss at Iowa State, Wilson got loose for 26 points, nine boards and three triples, but was the only Jayhawk to score more than eight points that night. 

The Jayhawks are just 2-4 over their last six games and the Longhorns are looking for their third straight win over a team ranked inside the Top 11 in the country. Add in the fact that they’re getting 4.5 points and they look like a nice bet to possibly get the win in Lawrence tonight.

Pick: Texas +4.5

Prop 1: Sir’Jabari Rice Over 10.5 points

Prop 2: Jalen Wilson Over 21.5 points

Prop 3:  Kevin McCullar Over 8.5 rebounds