Kansas vs. West Virginia Prediction, Game Preview

Kansas vs. West Virginia prediction and game preview. The Mountaineers can sweep the season series with the Jayhawks by winning Monday night in Lawrence.

Kansas vs. West Virginia Game Preview

When: Monday, Feb. 13 – 9 p.m. ET
Where: Allen Fieldhouse, Lawrence, Kan.
TV Broadcast: ESPN

Kansas visited Morgantown three weeks ago and played arguably its worst defensive game of the season in an 85-69 loss to West Virginia. The Mountaineers shot 48 percent from the field and ran away in the second half as the Jayhawks struggled to keep up.

Coach Bill Self’s team has won four its five games since that defeat, but this stretch hasn’t exactly been pretty. Kansas (22-3, 10-2) followed up huge wins over Kentucky and Baylor with an overtime loss to Iowa State that snapped its 54-game home winning streak, a three-point victory at Kansas State and a tough 80-79 win at Texas Tech on Saturday.

West Virginia (20-5, 8-4) had its own home setback since the win over Kansas, losing to Oklahoma State back on Feb. 4. It has gotten back on track with an easy win over Oklahoma and Saturday’s 85-66 romp over Kansas State, though.

The Mountaineers have lost in Lawrence each of the last four years since they joined the Big 12, but a victory there Monday would pull them within one game of the Jayhawks in the conference race.

Kansas Wins If …

… it doesn’t fall apart in the second half. The Jayhawks did in the first meeting, and it’s also been a concern at times since. They were outscored by 17 in the second half and overtime in the loss to Iowa State, couldn’t pull away from Kansas State and got outscored by six over the final 20 minutes against Texas Tech. Luckily for Kansas, freshman Josh Jackson had his best game of the season against the Red Raiders with 31 points, 11 rebounds and four assists while shooting 12-of-15 from the field and playing all 40 minutes.

West Virginia Wins If …

… Jevon Carter has a big game. Carter shot 3-of-12 in the first meeting but got to the free throw line and still finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds. He had 19 points Saturday after averaging 6.7 points and shooting 34.8 percent from the field over his previous three games. Esa Ahmad had 27 points in the win over the Jayhawks, but the Mountaineers can’t count on that this time around and will need a more productive effort from Carter.

Matchup To Watch

Carter vs. Frank Mason III

It’s always entertaining to watch two aggressive, hard-nosed guards going at each other. Mason, a favorite for national player of the year honors, also didn’t shoot his best in the first matchup, going 6-of-16. He also didn’t shoot well against Texas Tech and only got to the free throw line three times. Mason didn’t shoot a single free throw against West Virginia, so look for him to be more aggressive and not settle for the outside shot against Carter’s strong defense.

Betting Odds

Spread: Kansas -4.5
Over/Under: 158