Big Monday means big college basketball battles.
We take a closer look at the Big 12 and Big Ten conferences with a short-handed Kansas team traveling to Oklahoma State and Wisconsin trying to tally another conference road win at Iowa.
Monday College Basketball Odds & Picks
Odds as of Monday morning and via FanDuel, where Action Network users get a risk-free bet up to $500.
Oklahoma State vs. Kansas
- Spread: Kansas -8.5
- Over/Under: 134
- Time: 9 p.m. ET
- TV: ESPN
Oklahoma State (10-9) snapped a six-game losing streak with a 73-62 win at Texas A&M. But the Cowboys are 0-6 in Big 12 play, having lost three games at home. They are just 7-12 against the spread including 1-2 in their last three contests, with the two losses coming by a combined 2.5 points.
No. 3 Kansas (16-3) survived with a 74-68 home victory over Tennessee, with two of its best players serving suspensions in the aftermath of a brawl with Kansas State. The Jayhawks have won four games in a row and seven of their last eight contests. They are 11-8 ATS but failed to cover the Tennessee 13-point spread by seven points.
Monday, there are two variables that favor the Cowboys: history and the Jayhawks short-handed bench.
Without David McCormack and Silvio De Sousa, three of the Jayhawks' five starters were forced to play 38 minutes or more against Tennessee on Saturday.
Their short bench hurt their defensive efficiency, as Tennessee shot 19 of 40 (47.5%) from 2P and 6 of 15 (40%) from beyond the arc. This was quite a difference for a Kansas team that holds opponents to 29.9% from 3P on the season and 40.5% from 2P in conference play.
Kansas has also failed to cover against Oklahoma State in five of their last six regular-season meetings and were swept by the Cowboys in 2018.
Oklahoma State sophomore point guard Isaac Likekele (11.6 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 4.2 apg) has scored in double-figures in three consecutive games, and finally looks fully recovered from his mononucleosis inflection. Senior Lindy Waters III (12 ppg, 4.8 rpg) has also started to see positive regression from 3P, shooting 41.7% (10 of 24) over Oklahoma State's past four games.
Their limited personnel will likely be exacerbated by their poor free-throw shooting. Kansas ranks 297th with a team average of 66.1%. In Big 12 play, the Jayhawks haven't been much better with a 68% average.
This is too many points to give an Oklahoma State team that has always played Kansas tough during head coach Mike Boynton's three-year tenure. With their personnel limits hampering their normally aggressive defense, I am taking the Cowboys to keep this game close in Stillwater.
Pick: Oklahoma State +8.5
Iowa vs. Wisconsin
- Spread: Iowa -5.5
- Over/Under: 137
- Time: 8:30 p.m. ET
- TV: BTN
No. 19 Iowa (14-5) is 5-3 in the Big Ten, just 1.5 games behind Illinois and Michigan State for the top spot. The Hawkeyes have won four games in a row and are 4-0 in conference home games with an average margin of victory of 15 points per game. They are an impressive 12-5-2 against the spread, including 5-0-1 in their last six games at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Wisconsin (12-8) is just 3-3 over its past six games but is also 3-3 in its past six true road games. The Badgers have already have won at Ohio State and Penn State.
Iowa's offense has been dominant in Big Ten play behind the all-world performance of 6-foot-11 center Luka Garza (23.2 ppg, 10.3 rpg). Over his last four conference games, Garza has per-game averages of 27.3 points, 9.1 rebounds, and 2.3 blocks. However, in his last two meetings against Wisconsin, Garza has average a pedestrian 8.5 points and 2.5 rebounds.
While both of those games came against former All-Big Ten forward Ethan Happ, this year's Badger team features two players than can help slow down Garza. Both 6-foot-11 Nate Reuvers and Micah Potter will matchup with Garza, giving him a tough matchup on both ends of the floor.
The Hawkeyes are second-worst in conference play at defending the 2P, allowing opponents to shoot 53.5% from inside the arc.
Also, while the Hawkeyes rank No. 1 with a 76.9% team free throw average, the Badgers aren't too far behind at 75.4%.
Wisconsin is one of the few teams that can slow down the fast-paced Hawkeyes. The Badgers rank 28th-best in adjusted defensive efficiency and 350th in tempo per KenPom. Wisconsin's style mirrors San Diego State, which defeated the Hawkeyes 83-73 in late November in Las Vegas when Iowa still had guard Jordan Bohannon.
With a spread of just 5.5 points, this game projects as a close battle between two evenly-matched teams. Wisconsin has already proven its ability to win on the road in the Big Ten, a true rare ability.
I'm taking the Badgers +5.5 to keep this game within one possession down to the final minute.
Pick: Wisconsin +5.5
