Kansas Jayhawks vs. West Virginia Mountaineers Prediction & Game Preview - 2/19/2022

Time: 8 p.m. ET

Venue: WVU Coliseum, Morgantown, WV

Where to watch: ESPN

DraftKings: Check back later

BetMGM: Check back later

Caesars: Check back later

No. 6 Kansas: 21-4 (10-2 Big 12)

West Virginia: 14-11 (3-9 Big 12)

Kansas: won two straight

West Virginia: lost two straight

What a fun time to be the Kansas Jayhawks right now. Even though there might still be some uncertainty with how far they can go in the NCAA tournament, Kansas is playing like one of the top teams in the country. And even though there is a recent loss to Texas on their Ledger from almost two weeks ago, I don't think it's wise to let one slip up against an inconsistent team really sway us from the fact that this team is really good.

The Jayhawks are coming off a 14 point win on Valentine's Day against Oklahoma State at home, sweeping the Oklahoma contingent of their home games this past week. Kansas defeated Oklahoma by two points two days prior.

Ochai Agbaji led the way with 20 points against Oklahoma State, and despite shooting less than 40 percent, Kansas had all five starters score in double figures. Christian Braun finished with 16 points despite shooting 5 of 13 from the floor.

What has gotten Kansas to this point is the defense. Look no further than what they did against Oklahoma State, holding them to under 40%, and forcing them to miss 14 of their 17 three-point attempts. It also helped that Kansas went to the free-throw line 13 more times than Oklahoma State did, and if that had any change in the game, that's where it would have come from.

The Big 12 is suddenly more wide open than I think we perceived it even a couple of weeks ago. And it's not Baylor that's atop the conference right now. You have to look at teams like Texas Tech as the prime example for which team should be atop this conference. But when it comes down to pure skill and the right coaching, that's where Kansas separates itself from everyone else. When Bill Self is coaching an important game this time of the year it's very difficult to go against him.

Kansas combination of high-scoring offense and stout defense is one of the better combinations of the country. I have no doubt they will prove that again against their opponent on Saturday.

We could put the West Virginia Mountaineers in the same category as the LSU Tigers this season. West Virginia won 13 of its first 15 games and was looking like a real threat in the conference.

Since then, it has turned into an unmitigated disaster. West Virginia has lost nine of its last 10, and it's not just the fact that they're losing so much that's the problem. The biggest area of concern when it comes to West Virginia is that a majority of these losses over the last month have been by a ton of points.

Ironically enough this all started on January 15th when West Virginia played at Kansas for their first of two meetings this season. Kansas walked all over West Virginia by 26 points. Their next three games saw a loss to Baylor, a loss to Texas Tech, and a loss to Oklahoma period two of those three games were at home and it certainly did not look like it from that effort.

West Virginia is coming off a five-point loss at Kansas State on Monday in what has just been an awful display of basketball. Not even a seven-point lead at halftime could prevent West Virginia from choking the way that it did. Taz Sherman had 23 points on 7 of 15 shooting, and Kedrian Johnson added 15 points by making 8 of his 9 free throw attempts.

Sometimes you just watch a team go on a slide like this and you think to yourself if they'll ever get back to the form they were just a month prior. West Virginia shot itself in the foot and will not be making an NCAA tournament unless they somehow win the conference championship, which let's be honest, it would not shock me in the very least to see West Virginia lose in the first round at this point.

Things just aren't looking great for the Mountaineers, and that's about all you could say on that.

This really should not be that difficult. I do not trust a team that has lost so much over the last month to suddenly defeat one of the top teams in the country. Even at home, West Virginia just looks in trouble. They haven't been able to get stops when needed, their offense is dried up to a one man show, and it's really just all a mess when you look at it from top to bottom. If you're playing this game, do not overthink it. Take The Jayhawks by a comfortable margin to which they will cover. Kansas by 15

Kansas is 104-87 ATS in February since 1997.

The under is 190-138 after Kansas plays a home game.

PG: Dajuan Harris Jr.

SG: Ochai Agbaji

SF: Christian Braun

PF: Jalen Wilson

C: David McCormack

PG: Kedrian Johnson

SG: Sean McNeil

SF: Taz Sherman

PF: Jalen Bridges

C: Isaiah Cottrell

Points: Ochai Agbaji -- 19.9

Rebounds: Jalen Wilson -- 7.1

Assists: Dajuan Harris Jr. -- 4.1

Points: Taz Sherman -- 18.6

Rebounds: Gabe Osabuohien -- 5.7

Assists: Taz Sherman -- 2.5