Score Predictions for West Virginia vs. No. 3 Kansas

We make our picks for the Mountaineers Saturday evening matchup against the third-ranked Jayhawks

The West Virginia Mountaineers (6-11, 1-3) host the No. 3 Kansas Jayhawks (15-2, 3-1) on Saturday, with tip-offset for 4:00 p.m. and streaming on ESPN+.

Schuyler Callihan: Kansas 79, West Virginia 66.

Playing Kansas at home is always an interesting game. The crowd is always super into it and even in years where you thought West Virginia had absolutely no shot of winning, they found a way. Unfortunately, that won't be the case this evening.

Kevin McCullar Jr. is one of the best players in the country and can score it at all three levels. What makes this team so dangerous is what they can do working inside, out with big man Hunter Dickinson - another guy that has a case for the Wooden Award.

As WVU interim head coach Josh Eilert alluded to earlier this week, Kansas isn't the deepest team in the country, but they've got an elite starting five and quality bench. It's a veteran group that has played a ton of basketball and unless they are way off of their game and the Mountaineers make just about everything they hoist up, Kansas will head back home in a good mood.

Christopher Hall: Kansas 78, West Virginia 67.

Kansas is the most talented team the Mountaineers will play all season. Guard Kevin McCullar Jr. and forward Hunter Dickinson lead the Big 12 in scoring with McCullar leading the way a half of a point away from Dickinson at 19.8 points per game while Dickinson is averaging a league-leading 21.8 ppg in conference play. 

West Virginia did play well at home against Texas last Saturday but followed with a dud in Norman versus No. 15 Oklahoma. Poor rebounding was once again the theme in the loss. 

Mayb this group turned a corner playing at home against the Longhorns and will use the homecourt advantage to knock off some of the better teams in the league inside the Coliseum. However, with Dickinson and McCullar battling for Big 12 Player of the Year, and the Jayhawks recent loss at UCF, I don't expect Kansas to overlook West Virginia and get the win. 

I may be optimistic, but I do think the Mountaineers will battle but fall in the final moments 78-67.

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