Game Primer & LIVE Blog: How to Watch, Key Players and Important Information for Oklahoma at Kansas

Everything you need to know before the Jayhawks host the Sooners on Senior Night, plus LIVE updates.

The Kansas Jayhawks are home for the final game of the regular season, hoping to do enough to avoid a first-round matchup in the Big 12 Tournament next week in Kansas City. Standing in their way is the team that just clinched the regular season Big 12 title outright, the Oklahoma Sooners.

The Sooners are led by Jennie Baranczyk, who has a 72-23 record in her third year at the school. She is 5-1 against the Jayhawks.

The Sooners lead the all-time series 48-34, including a 21-16 record in Lawrence. They have won the last four meetings between the two teams and six of the last seven.

Check out the essentials below, and then come join us for LIVE updates during the game. We'll hit on everything that is happening around this matchup:

The Numbers

Editor's Note: Unless otherwise noted, all stats are provided by CBB Analytics. CBB Analytics is a new stats website in college hoops, covering both men and women's basketball in D-I, D-II and D-III. You can follow them on Twitter @CBBAnalytics

Kansas: 15-11 (8-7 Big 12): CBB Analytics Adjusted Net Rating - 59th overall, 52nd offense, 71st defense

#20 Oklahoma: 21-7 (15-2 Big 12): Net Rating - 33rd overall, 45th offense, 34th defense

Line: OU -2.5

O/U: 144.5

How to Watch

Saturday, March 2nd, 4:00 p.m. CST

Lawrence, KS: Allen Fieldhouse

TV: Big 12 NOW on ESPN+

- Josh Klingler (Play-by-Play), Wayne Simien (Analyst)

Radio: IMG Jayhawk Radio Network

- Steven Davis (Play-by-Play), David Lawrence (Analyst)

Webcast: Kansas Online Radio

Game Coverage

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Opponent Team Form

The Sooners are riding high off of clinching the Big 12 regular season title at home against Texas earlier this week, and it was a fairly impressive performance. But the metrics still don't like this team nearly as much as the rest of the top teams in the conference.

The Sooners are still a good but not elite team on both sides of the ball. They are 11th in pace, preferring to run and gun to get their points. That also means they usually drive to score before the other team can set up their defense, leading to a lot of offensive rebounds, lots of opportunities to turn it over, and not many free throws.

Defensively, they give up a lot in the halfcourt, struggling to defend in the paint and allowing opponents to shoot at the same high volume as them. They don't force a lot of turnovers, but they also shut down easy baskets off of wide open passes.

Players to Watch

Skylar Vann - 6'0" Senior Guard

Season: 15.3 pts, 7.3 rebs, 2.4 asts, 1.0 stls, 0.6 blks, 52.8% 2P%
Last 5: 13.2 pts, 8.8 rebs, 3.4 asts, 0.6 stls, 0.6 blks, 48.9% 2P%

The clear star for the team, she dropped 21 on the Jayhawks down in Norman. Much like Taiyanna Jackson, it's basically impossible to take her away, but Kansas will need to limit her if they want to take home the Senior Night win.

Sahara Williams - 6'0" Freshman Forward

Season: 10.0 pts, 5.3 rebs, 1.5 asts, 0.7 stls, 0.1 blks, 56.2% 2P%
Last 5: 12.2 pts, 5.0 rebs, 1.2 asts, 0.4 stls, 0.2 blks 53.8% 2P%

Williams is the post threat for this team, but she does just as much to help draw coverage and open up drivers as she gets her own points. If Jackson and Papadopoulou can guard her one on one, it will go a long way to help the overall defense.

Payton Verhulst - 6'1" Senior Guard

Season: 12.3 pts, 6.0 rebs, 3.9 asts, 1.1 stls, 0.9 blks, 36.4% 3P%
Last 5: 14.6 pts, 7.6 rebs, 4.4 asts, 0.8 stls, 1.2 blks, 41.2% 3P%

Verhulst was one of two players that absolutely killed the Jayhawks with huge buckets and rebounds. She has been even better from long-range recently, so it will be important for the perimeter defense to be locked in.

Matchups to Watch

It's always the battle down low, as the performance of Taiyanna Jackson will go a long way to determining the fate of the team. And she was shut down on the offensive end in Norman. Look for her to prove something in her final home game of the regular season.

On the perimeter, the return of Wyvette Mayberry, who was reportedly out with an illness against UCF, will help defensively for the Jayhawks. Kansas has already shown that they can slow down the Sooners once, but they will need to do it again if they want to get the win.

Prediction

Oklahoma could very well be playing for pride in this one, but despite the record, I don't think they are a better team than the Kansas State one that the Jayhawks beat on Sunday. Give me a fired up Jackson and an electric performance from Holly Kersgieter and Zakiyah Franklin as the Jayhawks make a statement to end the season.

Kansas 75, Oklahoma 61.