College Basketball Odds, Pick for Kansas vs Oklahoma State

No. 3 Kansas hits the road to face a struggling Oklahoma State squad on Tuesday night.

The Jayhawks responded to their loss at UCF with an impressive win over No. 9 Oklahoma and are now 14-2. Meanwhile, the Cowboys have opened conference play with three straight losses to fall to 8-8 overall.

The loss to the Knights snapped Kansas' streak of nine straight wins, which included a perfect 6-0 mark in December.

Kansas got back into the win column thanks to another strong showing by the dynamic duo of Hunter Dickinson and Kevin McCullar Jr. as both finished with at least 20 points in a game for the fourth time this season.

Dickinson, the senior center, leads the conference and is fourth in the country in rebounding (12.0 RPG). He also only trails his teammate in scoring in the Big 12 at 19.2 points per game.

As for McCullar, he ranks in the top 30 in the nation in scoring (19.9) and is shooting over 48% from the field. Coming into the weekend, he was the only player in the country to record two triple-doubles.

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In the offseason, coach Mike Boynton Jr. decided to take a new approach. He prioritized finding better shooters and ball-handlers to help his program, which has been dominant defensively, but has struggled at times to score.

Only three scholarship players returned from the 2022-23 team that won 20 games and reached the NIT quarterfinals. Nine scholarship newcomers, including six freshmen, joined Oklahoma State in the offseason, which partially explains why this season has been tough so far.

One of those key additions is been point guard Javon Small. The ECU transfer leads the team in scoring (15.3 PPG) and assists (4.5 APG), while also shooting over 40% from the 3-point line.

He is joined by Bryce Thompson (12.6 PPG) as the two Cowboys to average double figures. Thompson has stepped into the leadership role as the school’s longest-tenured player, and he’ll need another strong showing here to secure a win.

I’m not a believer in Oklahoma State and feel Kansas is going to be too much in this matchup.

So, my best bet is to take the Jayhawks at -6.5 (Caesars), which I would bet to -8. I also like them as a moneyline parlay piece.

For starters, there is a big discrepancy in strength of schedule. Bill Self’s team ranks inside the top 30, per Kenpom, while the Cowboys are 209th.

The Pokes typically play better at home, but we have seen them struggle at homes at times this year.

Kansas has been vulnerable to poor performances on the road, but I rate UCF and Indiana as better teams than the Cowboys.

I believe Self will use the loss down in Orlando as motivation to keep his team focused for a dominant win on Tuesday night.

Pick: Kansas -6.5 (Play to -8)