What Ochai Agbaji’s Absence Means for Kansas vs. Iowa State Betting Odds (Feb. 1)

The hits keep coming for the Kansas Jayhawks.

After getting embarrassed on their home court over the weekend in a 80-62 loss to Kentucky, the Jayhawks suffered another massive blow before a couple of highly-anticipated games this week.

Star wing Ochai Agbaji did not travel to Ames for Tuesday night's matchup against Iowa State due to COVID-19 health and safety protocols and will miss the game per a Kansas spokesperson.

The Jayhawks were 4.5-point favorites as of Tuesday morning but have quickly moved to -2.5 (click here for live college basketball odds) in wake of the news.

The Action Network's college basketball expert Stuckey believes it should be moving more in Iowa State's direction.

"Don’t think the market is properly accounting for his loss here," Stuckey said. "I think he’s worth about 3.5 points especially with Remy Martin banged up."

Stuckey had previously projected Kansas -2.5 in our NCAAB PRO Projections, but has adjusted the line to Kansas +1. That makes Iowa State +2.5 a 6.2% edge and the biggest edge of Tuesday's college basketball slate.

"Agbaji is a legit national player of the year candidate and has bailed out Kansas in a number of close games, including a one-point victory over these Cyclones in Lawrence when he had 22," Stuckey said. "He also had 37 and 29 in three-point wins vs. Texas Tech and Kansas State."

There's not a clear frontrunner for the Wooden Award that goes to the best player in college basketball and Ogbaji is certainly in the mix.

"He’s not only awesome on the offensive end, he’s an excellent defender," Stuckey said. "Per Hoop Lens, Kansas is a +21 per 100 possessions compared to only +4 when he’s not. You could see everyone else step up in his absence and Iowa State's offense could always throw up a clunker, but it’s a significant loss."

Kansas has a matchup with No. 8 Baylor on Saturday, which is just four days out and it's unclear whether Agbaji will be cleared to play in that one.

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