Wildcats vs Jayhawks: Game Predictions

The Kansas Jayhawks are in the Final Four, facing against familiar tournament foe: the Villanova Wildcats. The Blue Wings Rising crew tells you what you should expect to happen.

The Kansas Jayhawks were able to overcome a slow first half against Miami in the Elite Eight to advance to their 16th Final Four, and the opponent is a familiar one. The Villanova Wildcats are waiting on the other side of the court for the second straight time in this round.

Jayhawk fans will remember the last time these two teams played on this stage. But this time around, Villanova is dealing with injury issues that have severely affected their depth, and the Jayhawks are coming off perhaps their most impressive half of basketball all season long.

Will Kansas be able to keep the good times rolling straight into the national championship on Monday night? Or will Villanova gum up the works enough to keep it close and score a late upset?

Our crew gets together to tell you what we think you can expect to see today.

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Brendan Dzwierzynski: Your heart breaks for Justin Moore, but without him in this game I think Villanova is going to have a very challenging time keeping up with all the threats Kansas has on the floor at any time. Depth is also going to play a huge role, because even with a tighter rotation in the tournament this KU team still uses more depth than a now-depleted Villanova uses. I’m focused in on Jalen Wilson as the player I’m most interested in for Saturday, simply given how good has been in a relatively unsung role for a couple weeks now. The Jayhawks need to start this game better, because you don’t want to be behind late against a team that shoots free throws as well as the Wildcats do, but I think KU gets it done. 

Kansas 68, Villanova 64.

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Lucas Murphy: The games are dwindling, but the level of importance is rising. The Kansas Jayhawks will touch gloves and battle against the Villanova Wildcats. As my player predictions have gone through this entire tournament, they will stay the same. David McCormack needs to play as he did against Miami. A man on a mission. He played incredible, and that needs to be repeated against the Wildcats. Remy Martin needs to continue his hot streak of picking this team up off the bench in a huge way. His ability to run point has been a much-needed boost, and I expect that to continue. Of course, I am picking the Jayhawks

Kansas 82, Villanova 76

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Kyle Davis: There’s two ways this could play out with the injury to Villanova’s Justin Moore. Either Nova feels the effects of his absence or it rallies behind the adversity and plays even better. Nova already just plays six guys, which is now down to a five-man rotation of players who consistently played more than 5-10 minutes during this postseason run. Because of that, I could see this playing out similarly to the Miami game (though less dramatic): Villanova plays well early, keeps it back and forth for the first 25-30 minutes, but ultimately wears out and Kansas takes control. Still, Nova won’t beat itself, so Ochai Agbaji needs to continue his second-half play from Sunday and David McCormack needs to be a presence inside. 

Kansas 76, Villanova 69

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Derek Noll (from Napoli, Italia): I couldn’t watch the Miami game and I can’t watch the Nova game, so I’m just going to keep the good vibes coming with another blind KU pick because why would I change up my picks now? I wouldn’t. KU’s talent and (from what I can gather on Twitter) looseness prevails and the Jayhawks will play for a title on Monday.

Kansas 80, Villanova 68.

Andy Mitts: There are so many directions to point for this one that's it's hard to settle on just one. And as I mentioned on the podcast, there are a ton of players who have the ability to take off. The guys above have already talked about Wilson, McCormack and Agbaji, but there are a couple other players worth mentioning here.

There's a Kansas point guard that I expect to have a big performance, and it isn't Remy Martin. I'm not saying Martin couldn't have a big game, but I'm looking at Dajuan Harris on the defensive end. With the depth issues for the Wildcats, Harris' ability to be a pesky defender will likely cause some serious issues for Collin Gillespie.

But the guy I'm really looking to have a break-out game is none other than Mitch Lightfoot, who stepped up big against Miami in that second half. I'm worried about the cutting ability of Villanova and how McCormack will be able to handle it, so Lightfoot should get a huge opportunity here to help push Kansas into Monday's game.

Kansas 73, Villanova 63

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