Excellent matchup in the Big 12 as part of ESPN’s Big Monday doubleheader as Cincinnati visits No. 3 Kansas for the first time as conference co-members with the Bearcats playing their first season in the Big 12. KU is a solid favorite on the NCAAB odds. 2024 NCAA Basketball Betting & Expert Analysis Cincinnati vs. #3 Kansas | MyBookie Sportsbook Week 12 NCAAB

How to Bet Cincinnati at Kansas NCAA Basketball Odds & TV Info

When: Monday, 9 PM ET
Where: Allen Fieldhouse
TV: ESPN
Stream: ESPN+
Radio: Tunein.com
Opening NCAAB Lines: Kansas -8 (total 147)

Series History

Kansas leads the overall series with Cincinnati, 4-3. The two teams last met in 1996 in Chicago, a KU 72-65 win. Current Cincy coach Wes Miller took his UNC Greensboro team to Lawrence early in the 2019-20 season, falling 74-62 to the No. 3 Jayhawks. Cincinnati great Oscar Robertson’s 56 points in a 1958 NCAA Tournament win over Arkansas remains the Allen Fieldhouse single-game scoring record.

Why Bet on Cincinnati Bearcats?

Cincinnati (13-5, 2-3 Big 12) comes off a 69-65 home loss to No. 15 Oklahoma on Saturday. Otega Oweh’s dunk gave Oklahoma a 65-58 lead with about 2 minutes left before the Bearcats scored the next four points to close to 65-62 on Josh Reed’s free throws with 28.7 seconds left. Oweh then missed the front end of a one-and-one giving Cincinnati the ball with 14.7 remaining. The Sooners chose to foul Simas Lukosius with 6 seconds left and he made one of two from the line. Rivaldo Soraes was then fouled and hit both free throws to seal the win.

Lukosius (17 points) and John Newman III (14) led the Bearcats in scoring, while forward Viktor Lakhin tallied a season-best five blocks to go along with seven boards and five points. Day Day Thomas had six assists for the second-straight game. Since seven turnovers in the league opener at BYU, he has 17 assists to six turnovers as well. His 59 assists and 28 steals both lead the Bearcats.

While UC struggled to find its groove from beyond the arc (7-for-26, and the team is 6-0 this year when making 8 or more), Newman III is 7-for-14 since Christmas. He had missed eight in a row until then, but his impact as the team’s heart and soul transcends the box score no matter the line.

“They kicked our butts on the boards,” Coach Wes Miller said. “That’s two games in a row that’s happened, and I’m frustrated by that. I didn’t think we played our best basketball. I’m disappointed, and if we had found a way to win, I would have been happy and proud and would have sat up here and told you, but I’m not. For some reason, we’ve had better attitude, approach and effort all year than we had today. I’m not sure why, but we’re back to it. We don’t have time to dwell, because in this league you have to respond and get back to work. We have a big game in 48 hours.”

Cincinnati did take a step in the right direction with eight turnovers, a Big 12 season-low after averaging 14.8 over its first four. Defensively, Cincinnati still holds the distinction of holding potent BYU and Baylor to their respective season-lows (and both as the road team). UC boasts the No. 20 defensive efficiency in KenPom. UC has lost the rebounding battle only twice: its last two games. The Bearcats are still ranked 12th nationally with a 10.0 margin, a seismic shift from ranking 101 last year and 211 in 2021-22.

Dan Skillings Jr. is Cincinnati’s X-factor. He had season-lows in minutes and shot attempts on Saturday, but he poured in 24 at Baylor and 13 against TCU, including the game-winning layup with 22 seconds left. UC is 13-1 in the sophomore’s career (9-1 this year) when he scores in double-figures.

Why Bet on Kansas Jayhawks?

Kansas (15-3, 3-2 Big 12) will drop in the new polls Monday because it lost Saturday at mediocre West Virginia, 91-85. The Jayhawks, coming off a 24-point road victory at Oklahoma State and having an extra day advantage in preparation time, shot 53.8% from the floor, outscored the Mountaineers 44 to 26 in the paint and 16 to 8 in fastbreak points.

But West Virginia made 9-of-11 from 3 at one point in the first half and converted 21 of 25 from the free throw line, including 9-of-10 in the final 34 seconds of the game to pull off a stunner. Overall, West Virginia made 12 of 21 from behind the arc, hit 29 of 56 overall, and outrebounded Kansas 31 to 22. WVU has a minus-1.6 deficit on the glass for the season. The loss snapped KU’s six-game winning streak against West Virginia and made Kansas 2-2 in true road games this season and 6-3 in games not played in Allen Fieldhouse.

Graduate-senior Kevin McCullar Jr. dropped a game-high 24 points on 10-of-14 (71.4 percent) shooting, also dishing out five assists and pulling down four rebounds. McCullar notched his 13th career 20+ point game and his 10th this season. Senior All-American Hunter Dickinson posted 19 points on 7-of-14 (50.0 percent) shooting and logged five rebounds. Dickinson also added two steals and a pair of blocks. Of Kansas’ 85 points, 44 of them came in the paint. Kansas has outscored its opponent in the paint in 14 of the team’s 18.

Freshman Johnny Furphy made his third straight start against West Virginia, scoring 13 points and grabbing a team-high seven boards. Nine of Furphy’s 13 points came in the first half. Furphy also knocked in three three-pointers for a second straight game. Graduate-senior Nicolas Timberlake posted 12 points in 13 minutes on 4-of-7 (57.1 percent) from the floor.

Redshirt-senior Dajuan Harris Jr. swiped a game and season-high five steals and dished out five assists. The five dimes gave Harris 577 career assists, passing Tyshawn Taylor (575) and Frank Mason III (576) on the all-time career assists list and putting him at seventh. Harris also moved up a spot in the all-time steals category, passing Kevin Pritchard (190) and now sitting at eighth all-time with 194 career steals.

McCullar Jr. leads the Big 12 in scoring at 20.0 points per game, which is 27th nationally. His two triple-doubles are the most amongst the NCAA. McCullar also leads KU with 28 three-point field goals made. His 6.4 rebounds per game are second on the team and he ranks in 11 Big 12 statistical categories. Dickinson leads the Big 12 and is fifth nationally in rebounds per game at 11.3. He has three double-doubles in his last six games and his 10 double-doubles lead the Big 12 and are eighth nationally.

Junior forward KJ Adams Jr. leads the Big 12 and is 19th nationally in field goal percentage at 62.3%. Adams is averaging 14.0 points and 7.0 rebounds in Big 12 play and 12.7 points and 5.0 rebounds for the season. He has 58 assists in 2023-24. Kansas leads the nation in assists per game at 21.0. KU leads the Big 12 and is fourth nationally in field goal percentage at 50.9%

At halftime of the Cincinnati contest, Kansas will retire the jersey of Bill “Skinny” Johnson who wore No. 33 while playing at KU from 1931-33. KU has been ranked in the Associated Press top 10 in each of the last 49 polls dating back to the 2021-22 preseason poll. The 49 weeks is the longest in the nation for a top-10 team.

Cincinnati vs. #3 Kansas Expert Prediction

Kansas 76, Cincinnati 68

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