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Kansas-Texas Men’s College Basketball Preview and Best Bet
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It’s March, the best month of the year for college basketball. Smaller conference tournaments are underway, and this is the last weekend of regular-season games in the major conferences. There are some opportunities to make a score with moneyline picks, so let’s get to it.
No. 3 Kansas at No. 9 Texas
Game Info: March 4, 2023 | 4:00 p.m. ET | ESPN
Kansas Straight-Up Record: 25-5 (13-4 Big 12)
Kansas Against the Spread Record: 14-16
Texas Straight-Up Record: 22-8 (11-6 Big 12)
Texas Against the Spread Record: 13-17
The Longhorns have been a really good home team, winning seven straight there and 16 of 17 this season. But they’re bumping up against a better team that is playing at a high level.
The Jayhawks’ current seven-game winning streak is the longest any Big 12 team has had this season in league play. Point guard Dajuan Harris is probably playing the best ball of his career during this streak, averaging 13 points, 6.4 assists and 2.7 steals. Texas Tech transfer Kevin McCullar has found his niche of late as well, providing hard-edged defense and rebounding while contributing some timely baskets.
Texas’ defense has slipped a little recently, and the Horns are vulnerable against a strong offensive rebounding team. Kansas isn’t overwhelming in that area, but there will be second-chance scoring opportunities available for the Jayhawks.
Bet: Kansas Moneyline
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Pat Forde is a senior writer for Sports Illustrated who covers college football and college basketball as well as the Olympics and horse racing. He cohosts the College Football Enquirer podcast and is a football analyst on the Big Ten Network. He previously worked for Yahoo Sports, ESPN and The (Louisville) Courier-Journal. Forde has won 28 Associated Press Sports Editors writing contest awards, has been published three times in the Best American Sports Writing book series, and was nominated for the 1990 Pulitzer Prize. A past president of the U.S. Basketball Writers Association and member of the Football Writers Association of America, he lives in Louisville with his wife. They have three children, all of whom were collegiate swimmers.
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