Cincinnati vs Kansas Basketball Predictions: How shorthanded is too shorthanded?

The crew gets together to tell you if they think the Jayhawks can overcome their injury issues against the Bearcats.

The Kansas Jayhawks flopped in the regular season finale against Houston, and the news got even worse as Hunter Dickinson left the game with a shoulder injury. Add in a resting Kevin McCullar, and the prospects of the Jayhawks winning the Big 12 Tournament this week took a major hit. 

But today's opponent is one that Kansas has already beaten handily, and they match up fairly well against the Cincinnati Bearcats even without Dickinson. So what do we expect to happen in today's opener in the Tournament for the Jayhawks?

Do you disagree with our picks? Make sure you read them all and then hope over to the Discord or on Twitter to share your own thoughts.

Kyle Davis

Check out our Cincinnati Preview for Kyle's full breakdown and prediction.

Cincinnati vs Kansas Big 12 Tournament Preview

Derek Noll

It’s experiment time. Kansas is going up against a great rebounding team, albeit one that had to play the day before, and is without Hunter Dickinson and Kevin McCullar. I guess that means it’s time to see what Parker Braun, KJ Adams, and Johnny Furphy can do on the boards. This game could be very valuable heading into the NCAA tournament, and I’ll be interested to see how KU plays when it has to go small. With a depleted roster, I’m still taking the Jayhawks, but this game is going to be closer than it would’ve been if KU were at full strength.

Kansas 67, Cincy 62.

Brendan Dzwierzynski

Your one major concern here has to be Cincinnati’s rebounding versus a suddenly much smaller Kansas front court, right? Going from 30+ Hunter Dickinson minutes at the 5 against the Bearcats is a lot more exciting that a full game of K.J. Adams and Parker Braun at the 5, and that’s not intended as disrespect at those two, it’s just reality. I think KU is going to need greatness from Dajuan Harris on both ends and Johnny Furphy has got to get back in a groove for the Jayhawks to make any noise in this tournament, and I do think they can carry the perimeter load at least for today. 

Kansas 70, Cincinnati 65.

Caleb Sisk

It’s not abnormal to enter this game nervous with McCullar and Dickinson out. Cincinnati is coming off of a come from behind win against a very bad West Virginia Mountaineers team. They defeated them on senior day by a large margin but that was not the case yesterday. Star player John Newman had fouled out which is something to watch because 1-2 foul outs for Cincinnati this game could get ugly. Day Day Thomas is a high level guard and one of the most underrated players in the nation. Dan Skillings can catch fire as well so if that happens it could be a bad day for the Jayhawks. Simas Lukosius will HAVE TO BE LIMITED in order for the Jayhawks to win this game. I believe that Kansas gets upset in this one. 

Cincinnati 69, Kansas 64

Andy Mitts

I don't think I could have whiffed harder in the last one, but let's not overcorrect here. Am I worried about everything mentioned above? Absolutely. Is the razor thin bench an even bigger worry now? Of course.

But this is a team that seems to respond to unexpected lineup adversity pretty well. And tonight's venue is as close as we are going to get to a home-court advantage the rest of the year. I have absolutely no idea how Kansas is going to play against Baylor with such a limited lineup. But they should be able to get this win tonight thanks to defense.

Kansas 69, Cincinnati 63.

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