#4 Purdue vs  #1 Kansas – Thursday, K.C., Missouri

by Jim Feist

Kansas has a bit of a home-area edge in this Big 10 versus Big 12 battle. Kansas opened the season with a loss to Indiana of the Big 10, then went 30-3, losing to TCU in a Big 12 tourney they probably weren’t that focused on. They only other defeats were at West Virginia (85-69) and at home to Iowa State (92-89).

 

  Purdue offers quite a challenge, the Big 10 regular season champs. The Boilermakers lean on 6-9 sophomore Caleb Swanigan (18.5 points, 12.6 rebounds overall) as the key to the offense. He is averaging 18 points, 13 boards, 5.5 assists and two blocks per game in the Big Dance . But he’s more than just an inside force, as when opponents double team him Purdue has open looks from long range: the Boilermakers hit 305 shots from three-point land, a sizzling 40.4 percent success rate.  The betting line has gone from Kansas at 3.5 to -5, with the total up to 157.

 

#4 Purdue vs  #1 Kansas – Thursday, K.C., Missouri

 

•  Purdue (27-7)  6-1 ATS at neutral sites, 22-8 ATS non-conf
•  22-8 against the spread in non-conference games.
•  2-5 ATS as a dog. 8-0 over the total at neutral sites.

 

Kansas (30-4)  7-1 ATS at neutral sites, 15-5 over as chalk

• Senior guard Frank Mason III leads the Jayhawks’ great backcourt along with junior Devonte’ Graham, a strong three-point shooter (89 threes).
• Kansas averaged 95 points in its first two games of the NCAA Tournament with Mason with freshman swingman Josh Jackson playing well.
• “We haven’t seen a team that plays through their bigs,” Kansas coach Bill Self said this week of Purdue. 
• Kansas knocked off the Boilermakers 63-60 in the NCAA Tournament in 2012 in their last meeting.
• Kansas is 14-5 ATS at neutral site, 7-16 ATS vs. the Big Ten.
• Kansas is 27-9 under the total in NCAA Tournament games.