Kansas Jayhawks Basketball Predictions: West Virginia Mountaineers

The Kansas Jayhawks are in Morgantown, WV today for the rematch against the West Virginia Mountaineers, who they slaughtered in their last meeting. Will revenge be had, or will Kansas actually build on their success against Kansas State? Our crew gets together to tell you what to expect.

Disagree with anything you see here? Leave your own prediction in the comments below!

Kyle_Davis21: That 79-65 win in late December at Allen Fieldhouse felt like a season ago. I don’t expect the Jayhawks to hit 16 threes again, but I am hopefull that Braun in particular got some confidence back after the win against K-State. The key, for me, is going to be rebounding. West Virginia is really good on the offensive boards (ninth nationally in offensive rebounding percentage) and grabbed 19 offensive boards in the first meeting. KU also grabbed 19 offensive rebounds, which they’ll need to do again (or at least be relatively aggressive on that end), while keeping the Mountaineers off the glass since, as I said, I’m not sure the 3-ball will fall as easily. I think KU gets more from Braun and is able to win a closer contest on the road. Kansas 72, West Virginia 67

Fizzle406: I have no idea how this is going to go. Not even an inkling. No result would surprise me. I’ll go with WVU because KU has a rough time in Morgantown it seems. WVU 74, Kansas 72

David: While the final score looked nice, the get-right game against K-State didn’t make me feel any better about our offensive struggles. That said, this year’s West Virginia team does not play the type of smothering defense we’ve seen in recent years, and is mediocre in terms of 2 point defense. For that reason, I’m not as down on our chances as I might otherwise be. Still, I’m wary of picking this team to go on the road and beat a good team. West Virginia 63, Kansas 60

dnoll5: I have no reason to believe that Kansas can actually go on the road and beat a quality team after what we’ve seen recently, but hey, when does reason ever factor into these predictions? For me, rarely. As Kyle said above, WVU grabs tons of offensive rebounds, so that must mean that they miss a lot of shots. If Kansas can stay competitive in that category, can some threes on their offensive end, and not get stuck in a snowstorm on the way to the arena, they’ve got a chance. Kansas 66, WVU 65.

Mike.Plank: As others have mentioned, KU shot (and made) a ton of threes in the first matchup in Allen Fieldhouse back in December. If the Jayhawks take over 40% of their shots from 3, then they will win this game. It’s really that simple. However, I feel like Bill Self is too stubborn to have figured that out yet, and we lose yet another frustrating brick-fest. West Virginia 70, Kansas 65.

Andy Mitts: I’m not sure if negativity from other areas of the athletic department are affecting the way I see this game, but I just have a bad feeling about this one. Kansas can’t afford to get off to a slow start in this one, but they haven’t shown me anything that makes me think they will avoid it. Add in that I’m still not convinced that our 3-point shooting is fixed and the fact that West Virginia is out for blood after we killed them at home, and I’m afraid this one is going to solidify the pattern of being uncompetitive that has started to develop. I sure hope I’m way off base, but give me West Virginia 81, Kansas 69.