Kansas at Oklahoma Basketball Preview: Can KU Fix its Road Woes?

The Jayhawks head to Norman looking to win its first road game in five tries.

The Kansas Jayhawks are back on the road, which is probably the last place KU wants to be. The Jayhawks will be looking for its first road win in five games when it takes on the Oklahoma Sooners in Norman. KU will also be trying for a sweep of OU after winning in Lawrence 78-66 on January 13.

Opponent Overview

Team: Oklahoma

Record: 18-7

KenPom: 31

Line: TBD (KenPom projects OU -1)

Team Form

Oklahoma’s Big 12 season has been all about going on small losing skids and then bouncing back in a big way. The loss to Kansas in Lawrence was its second in a row, then it beat West Virginia by 14 and Cincinnati on the road. Then came another two straight losses to Texas and Texas Tech. That skid was righted with a 20-point win in Manhattan over Kansas State. The next game was an 11-point loss at UCF, which the Sooners then bounced back from with a 16-point win over BYU. And the cycle continued. Most recently, Baylor beat OU by 17 in Waco on Tuesday.

Players to Watch

Javian McCollum was the best Sooner in Lawrence and has led the team in scoring all year. McCollum dropped a team-high 17 points at KU, but also had six turnovers (which tied for the most he’d had all year). He’s been struggling of late, however, only scoring in double figures in one of his last four games and two of his last seven.

Milos Uzan (15) and Otega Oweh (12) were the other two OU players to score in double figures in the first meeting. Oweh was successful because he was able to stay out of foul trouble. But that hasn’t been the case of late. Oweh hasn’t scored in double figures in his last five games while committing three or more fouls in three of them. For Uzan, the issue has been inconsistency. Two games after his 15 at KU, Uzan scored only two on 1-6 shooting at Cincinnati. Then after 13 against Tech, he only scored two points on 0-4 shooting at KSU (though he had eight assists).

Coming on of late is Oregon transfer Rivaldo Soares. He only scored two points at KU but has scored in double figures in six of nine games since then after only four games in double figures the first 16 games.

Matchups to Watch

Who will win the battle of the paint? Oklahoma has been one of the better two-point shooting teams this year, but the Sooners have taken a dip during Big 12 play, currently ranking seventh out of 14 teams. In the first meeting, Oklahoma shot just 45% from two, well below its average, while Kansas scored on 51% of its two-point field goals. Compare that to when OU shot 64% from two in a big win over BYU. Hunter Dickinson and KJ Adams have to rebound from an off night (that’s an understatement) Monday.

One area where Kansas can really help itself is in the turnover battle. Oklahoma is last in the conference in forcing turnovers, and KU had just two in Lawrence in January. Meanwhile, Oklahoma has been in the middle of the pack at turning the ball over offensively.

Finally, Oklahoma has regressed in conference play at offensive rebounding. The Sooners were one of the better teams at grabbing their own misses in the non-conference but have gotten just 25.8% of its offensive rebounds (11th) in Big 12 games. Getting easy buckets, not letting your opponent get multiple chances, and not turning the ball over is a great recipe for winning on the road.

Prediction

It’s been a theme all year. Kansas plays well on Saturdays (often at home) and doesn’t seem to have the legs with quick turnarounds during the week. It’s unclear if Kevin McCullar will be able to return from injury for this game, though hopefully Jamari McDowell will be back from his illness and hopefully Dajuan Harris will be able to get some rest on his ankle.

The positive of getting blown out so badly Monday is that Bill Self is going to be able to get this team’s full focus and attention. I can’t imagine Dickinson, Adams, and Harris all playing as poorly as they did in Lubbock and like Kansas to bounce back and break the streak of road woes.

Kansas 75, Oklahoma 69

Record ATS: 12-13

Record Straight Up: 20-5

(Last game: Texas Tech 79, Kansas 50)