The final week of the college basketball regular season is upon us as teams continue jockeying for position in their conference tournaments and the NCAA’s Big Dance later in the month.
Two teams fighting for positioning in both the conference and postseason tournament are the Kansas Jayhawks (19-10, 10-8 Big 12) and the No. 3 ranked Houston Cougars (25-4, 17-1 Big 12).
Kansas needs this win to maintain its sixth seed in the conference tournament after this year’s disappointing season. The Jayhawks have lost three of their past five games, and Kansas has only a game against Arizona remaining on its schedule.
Meanwhile, the Cougars are locked into the Big 12 Tournament’s top seed and look primed for a No. 1 seed in the country’s premier postseason tournament.
Can the Jayhawks pull off an upset and solidify their position in the NCAA Tournament? We’ll cover that and our three best player prop bets below.
Houston Cougars G L.J. Cryer OVER 15.5 Points
L.J. Cryer is again the driving force behind the Cougars’ magical season. This year, he’s contributing a team-best 14.8 points, adding 2.2 rebounds and 2.0 assists per outing for Houston.
Cryer is entering the game having scored 16 or more points in three of his past four outings. His lone outlier was against the No. 10 ranked Texas Tech Red Raiders, but Houston still scored a victory. Expect him to lead the Cougars again tonight despite the Jayhawks’ defensive efforts, covering this player prop bet.
Kansas Jayhawks G Dajuan Harris Jr OVER 4.5 Assists
Dajaun Harris has been a beast for Kansas this season. He’s leading the Jayhawks with 5.8 assists per game, a stat that’s 28th nationally this season. Harris is also contributing 9.3 points and 2.9 rebounds per game.
In his first contest against Houston, Harris finished with 12 assists as the Jayhawks took Houston to two overtimes before losing. Expect a similar performance tonight, eclipsing this small assist total like he’s done in all but two games leading up to Monday’s contest.
Houston Cougars F J’Wan Roberts OVER 6.5 Rebounds
In his fifth year, senior forward J’Wan Roberts looks primed to take Houston on another deep postseason run. The 6-foot-8 player is scoring 11.3 points per night while grabbing 6.3 rebounds per outing.
Roberts has been held to single-digit rebounds in all but four games this season, and he’s finished below his season average in seven of the past 10 games. Still, against Kansas earlier this season, he finished with nine rebounds. We’re taking the over and expect him to finish with at least seven boards on Monday night.
Best Bet: UNDER 132.5
Kansas knows it's fighting for its postseason life in this contest. The Jayhawks can ill-afford to back into the NCAA Tournament on a five-game losing streak, and their remaining schedule makes every game a must-win situation.
Straight betting, I’m taking Houston. But with the Jayhawks in desperation mode, it’s hard to forecast Houston winning this game by double-digits. The safer bet is to take the NCAA’s leading defensive team to make this game a low-scoring affair, meaning bettors should take the under on the combined total points scored.
