Kansas Jayhawks Basketball Predictions: TCU Horned Frogs

The Kansas Jayhawks suffered a bad loss the last time out, getting completely destroyed by ISU, and no one on this panel saw it coming. Will they fair better as KU tries to rebound at home after the loss of Udoka Azubuike?

dnoll5: While I should have no confidence in anything KU is going to do going forward based on that debacle against the Hawkeyes, I do. Something tells me that Bill Self was prepared for this terrible Udoka news even before the actual news made its way out. The most worrying thing is what has been said on this forum over the past few days: KU just doesn’t have the shooters (or the dominant big guy) that it had last season when four guards were the key to Final Four glory. Strangely, I think that if Kansas just quits helping defensively on three pointers and sticks to their man, they can win lots of games and a conference title going small, even without shooters. The experiment starts tonight. Kansas 78, TCU 70.

Mike.Plank: A crazy fact from Twitter (that I haven’t verified yet); In recent years, Iowa State is just 3-6 in the next game after they beat Kansas. I’m guessing most other teams in the Big 12 have similar marks, but I haven’t investigated (yet). Here’s another fact that I have verified: Bill Self is 86-11 following a loss while at KU. I wouldn’t want to be TCU tonight. Kansas 82, TCU 60.

Kyle_Davis21: Like Iowa State, Kansas will be the best team TCU has played thus far by a wide margin (43 spots on KenPom). Unlike Iowa State, TCU will not have a friendly home crowd on its side, and will be facing a motivated Jayhawks squad. The Horned Frogs share the ball really well and are great from inside the arc, but I’m banking on a good game from Dedric and another strong performance from Quentin Grimes. Kansas 79, TCU 74

Fizzle406: Man, I don’t know. This is a weird team that has received its fair share of bad luck. I honestly would not be surprised by any outcome tonight or for the rest of the season. Ultimately I do think Kansas will win tonight and I will be anxious to see Abgaji in action as well. Kansas 60, TCU 52

Andy Mitts: The game against Iowa State is concerning, but the last time that Kansas has lost back-to-back games under Bill Self was in the 2014 season, when they lost at Colorado and at Florida in early December. The last time they lost back-to-back conference games was the year prior, during the 3-game stretch that included the “Topeka YMCA” game. Bill Self knows how to motivate his team coming off a loss, and the reported activation of Ochai Agbaji is a clear sign that he is going to pull out all the stops. Add in that TCU is without Jaylen Fisher, and I see Kansas fighting off a strong challenge and pulling away late in the game. Kansas 75, TCU 62