Game Primer: How to Watch, Key Players and Important Information for Western Kentucky at Kansas

Here is everything you need to know for today's opening round game of the WNIT as the Jayhawks host the Hilltoppers.

Fresh off the disappointment of not being selected for the NCAA Tournament, the Kansas Jayhawks host the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers in the first round of the Women's National Invitational Tournament. 

The Hilltoppers are led by head coach Greg Collins, who is serving in his first head coaching role. He has been the coach of Western Kentucky for five seasons, amassing an 86-63 record. They finished second in Conference USA and advanced to the finals of the league tournament before falling to Middle Tennessee State. 

This is the first meeting between these two squads. The Jayhawks are 9-5 all-time in the WNIT, including a perfect 3-0 record in the opening round.

Before today's important matchup, here are the essentials:

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: 19-11 (9-9 Big 12): CBB Analytics Net Rating - 59th overall, 67th offense, 75th defense

Western Kentucky: 19-13 (14-6 Conference USA): Net Rating - 155th overall, 98th offense, 248th defense

Line: TBD

O/U: TBD

How to Watch

Friday, March 17th, 5:00 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), Jill Dorsey-Hall (Analyst)

Webcast: Kansas Online Radio

Game Coverage

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Opponent Team Form

The Hilltoppers have found success by playing a huge rotation of players this season, with 10 players averaging double digit minutes and 11 players appearing in at least 28 games. They have a methodical pace, but aren't afraid to speed it up if needed. However, they struggle with rebounding on the interior, and instead focus on forcing steals and turnovers and turning that into quick points on the other end.

Defensively, they have serious issues, as they are one of the very worst teams in defensive rebounding percentages. Offensively, they take a large number of three pointers, making an above average 33.1% of them in their last 5 games.

Players to Watch

With so many players that are in the rotation, it's hard to single out players by roles. However, guard Acacia Hayes leads the team in scoring with 11.2 points per game, nearly two full points ahead of the next scorer. Forward Jaylin Foster leads the team in rebounds (5.5), steals (2.0) and blocks (0.5) per game, while Alexis Mead leads the team in assists with 3.2.

Matchups to Watch

Given the rebounding issues, you would think that the interior players would feast. But this Kansas team has been so good across the board at rebounding that I think anyone could have a big day 

Prediction

The interior advantage for the Jayhawks just seems to be too great. While I'm sure Kansas is going to have their fair share of turnovers, they are likely to come out with some attitude after being snubbed for the NCAA Tournament.

Expect to see big numbers all around, with a chance for the bench to get significant minutes at the end of the game.

Kansas 78, Western Kentucky 58.

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