West Virginia vs Kansas: Big 12 Tournament Preview
The second game in today's Big 12 quarterfinals at the T-Mobile Center tips off at 2pm, and will feature the 9th seeded West Virginia Mountaineers and the top seeded Jayhawks. The Mountaineers got to this game by beating out 8 seed Kansas State last night, and for their season to continue, they likely need to keep winning. Short of winning the whole thing, they will not be headed to the NCAA Tournament, and a loss today puts them below .500 for the season. While the NIT has done away with their .500 requirement, no team below that mark has made it under the current format. So in all likelihood, West Virginia's season ends today if they do not win.
On the Kansas side of things, the Jayhawks can potentially use this tournament as a springboard to a 1 seed. Currently they're generally seen on the 2 line in predictions, but three wins in three days, potentially including wins over Texas and Baylor/Texas Tech, may well be enough to move up. A loss to the 9 seed wouldn't doom them to the 3 line, but it wouldn't look great headed into Selection Sunday this weekend, and falling one line wouldn't be out of the question depending on how other things play out.
These teams, of course, already played twice this season. In the first matchup, back on January 15, the Jayhawks used a huge second half to blow out the Mountaineers 85-59, ending a string of rocky performances early in 2022. The second game, at West Virginia on February 19, Kansas again won comfortably, 71-58. West Virginia briefly made the game close early in the second half, but Kansas ultimately pulled away and the game was not in question down the stretch.
West Virginia's defense fell sharply once they got to Big 12 play, while their offense, though up and down, has preformed pretty well on multiple occasions down the stretch. However, in a league full of tough defenses, they went just 4-14 in conference play. Kansas has had the best offensive team in the Big 12, and while their defense has not been elite this year, it would take a really rough day on the Jayhawks' end for West Virginia to win.
Prediction
The Jayhawks just got four days rest after playing four games in eight days to finish the regular season. They should have a near-home-crowd behind them, and there's no reason for them not to come out relaxed for this one. Again, I think West Virginia's only real hope here is an awful shooting performance by KU. While that can happen to anyone, I see no reason to expect it here.
Kansas 80, West Virginia 68
