Mountaineers vs Jayhawks: Game Predictions

It's the first game of the Big 12 Championship Tournament for the Kansas Jayhawks as they face the West Virginia Mountaineers. The Blue Wings Rising crew tells you what you should expect to happen.

The Big 12 Championship Tournament started last night, with the West Virginia Mountaineers taking down the Kansas State Wildcats in the only opening round game.

Up next is the Kansas Jayhawks, the 1 seed in this tournament and co-champion of the Big 12 regular season. While their record in this event is phenomenal, the strength of this conference makes it difficult to rule out anything.

Are the Jayhawks giving this game their all in an attempt to lock up a 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament next week? Or will they be resting select starters to prepare for a grueling tournament run, thus opening the door for a potential upset? Our crew gets together to tell you what we think you can expect to see today.

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Kyle Davis: Kansas is coming off it’s longest break in…a while, so fatigue shouldn’t be an issue. In the two previous games against West Virginia this year, the Jayhawks have grabbed 16 and 11 offensive rebounds. A continuation of that trend will be big, which means it feels like a big opportunity for David McCormack and Jalen Wilson to be menaces down low. The line as of Thursday morning is KU -9, which feels about right. Give me the Jayhawks to cover. 

Kansas 79, West Virginia 67

Brendan Dzwierzynski: Hopefully, getting a few days off after a hellacious week is enough for Ochai Agbaji to get back in the zone and for David McCormack’s foot to start feeling better. The big men were great last time against West Virginia, so I’m looking for McCormack and Jalen Wilson to shoulder the load and propel the Jayhawks to Friday. 

Kansas 77, West Virginia 67.

Lucas Murphy: The Kansas Jayhawks won’t travel light from Lawrence, Kansas, and neither will the snow we are anticipating. I would like to see David McCormack play well this game and get a double-double. In all honesty, I would like to see this team turn on the March madness switch and roll the Mountaineers and I think they will.

Kansas 78, West Virginia 65

Derek Noll: Gonna go ahead and pick KU to beat the Mountaineers. Shocking, I know, but I’m just hoping that KU can rest some dudes or get some rotation guys some minutes. Getting Remy and Yesufu and Clemence some meaningful minutes and/or understanding of their roles will be really important. 

Kansas 80, West Virginia 56.

Andy Mitts: Based on comments from Bill Self this week, I wouldn’t be surprised if David McCormack doesn’t even play in this game. Kansas has pretty consistently treated this tournament like a tune-up when it comes to the first round, opting to rest starters or limit minutes with an eye to the NCAA Tournament.

Assuming my suspicions are correct, that means that this will be the perfect game for a player like KJ Adams to step into an increased role. I expect Mitch to get the majority of the post minutes, but a healthy rotation of Wilson at the 5 and Adams and Zach Clemence should be more than enough to handle what West Virginia throws at them.

All that being said, the key to the game will be the trio on the wing. Agbaji has had difficulty getting things going in the last couple of games, at least to the level that we have gotten used to. Christian Braun has been a steady presence on the perimeter, but a big spike in offensive production would absolutely be welcomed. And Wilson will have to contribute on both the perimeter and in the post for this one. Ultimately though, it’s hard to see how West Virginia can do enough to pull off this upset. 

Kansas 79, West Virginia 62