West Virginia Mountaineers vs Kansas Jayhawks Prediction, 12/31/2024 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: West Virginia Mountaineers vs Kansas Jayhawks

Date: Tuesday, December 31, 2024

Location: Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, KS

TV: ESPN+

The West Virginia Mountaineers (9-2) are traveling to Allen Fieldhouse on Tuesday where they will take on the Kansas Jayhawks (9-2).

The West Virginia Mountaineers faced Mercyhurst and went home with a win by a final score of 67-46 in their last game. West Virginia ended the game with a 48.1% field goal percentage (25 out of 52) and buried 5 out of their 19 shots from beyond the arc. From the free throw line, the Mountaineers converted 12 of 18 tries for a percentage of 66.7%. Concerning rebounding, they compiled a total of 34 with 7 of them being of the offensive variety. They also distributed 14 assists in this matchup as well as forcing 14 turnovers and having 7 steals. In regard to the defense, West Virginia allowed their opponent to shoot 28.3% from the floor on 15 out of 53 shooting. Mercyhurst earned 8 assists and had 4 steals in this contest. On top of that, Mercyhurst collected 31 rebounds (10 offensive, 21 defensive), but wasn't able to put a block in the stat sheet. Mercyhurst went 78.6% when shooting free throws by converting 11 of their 14 tries. They converted 5 of 17 shots from 3-point range. In regard to fouls, the Mountaineers left the arena with 15 while Mercyhurst recorded 15 fouls.

Javon Small is one player who was a contributor for this game. He totaled 19 points on 6 out of 14 shooting. He saw the court for 34 minutes and snagged 3 rebounds. He finished shooting 42.9% from the floor and earned 7 dimes.

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West Virginia heads into this game with a record of 9-2 on the year. They have an average of 77.5 points per game (139th in Division 1) while going 44.2% from the floor. The Mountaineers are connecting on 35.4% on shots from distance (114 of 322) and 77.8% from the free throw line. As a unit, West Virginia is snagging 37.2 boards per contest and has accounted for 160 dimes on the season, which is 282nd in the nation in terms of passing. They are giving up possession 11.7 times per contest and as a group they commit 16.8 personal fouls on a nightly basis.

On defense, the Mountaineers are forcing 14.5 turnovers per contest while drawing 15.4 personal fouls. They surrender 28.7% on shots from downtown and they are ranked 30th in the nation in PPG from their opponents (63.8). Mountaineers defensively are allowing a shooting percentage of 37.3% (243 of 651) and they relinquish 36.9 rebounds per contest as a group. They are currently ranked 9th in Division 1 in allowing assists to the opposition with 111 conceded so far this season.

The last time they took the court, the Kansas Jayhawks went home victorious with a score of 87-53 when they played Brown. The Jayhawks were able to pull down 37 defensive boards and 9 offensive boards totaling 46 in this contest. They gave up possession of the ball 6 times, while earning 7 steals for the matchup. Brown committed 12 personal fouls in this game which got the Jayhawks to the free throw line for a total of 15 attempts. They were able to convert 11 of them for a rate of 73.3%. With regard to shots from downtown, Kansas made 8 of 22 attempts (36.4%). When the final whistle blew, the Jayhawks ended up shooting 34 out of 68 from the field which had them shooting 50.0%. The Jayhawks allowed Brown to make 20 of 75 attempts from the floor which left them shooting 26.7% for this contest. They went 24.2% from 3-point land by shooting 8 out of 33 and ended up going 5 of 8 from the charity stripe (62.5%). With respect to cleaning up the glass, Kansas allowed Brown to get 36 overall (14 on the offensive side).

Zeke Mayo ended up being a major contributor for the Jayhawks for the contest. He knocked down 10 out of 15 for the game giving him a field goal percentage of 66.7%, and accumulated 8 rebounds. He earned 25 points in his 26 mins of playing time and totaled 4 assists for this game.

Kansas has a mark of 9-2 on the campaign. On the offensive side of the court, the Jayhawks are shooting 49.8% from the field, which is 23rd in college. Kansas has totaled 871 points for the campaign (79.2 per contest) and they snag 38.2 rebounds per game. Their rate of earning assists is at 18.8 times per game (9th in college) and they turn the ball over 10.5 times per contest. The Jayhawks are committing 14.7 fouls every game and they hit 71.6% from the free throw line.

The Kansas defense surrenders 30.3% on shots from 3-point land (80 of 264) and opponents are making 73.2% of their shots from the charity stripe. They have relinquished 11.0 assists and 32.8 total boards per game, which is ranked 57th and 104th in the country. The Jayhawks are ranked 59th in Division 1 in points per game surrendered with 66.0. They are able to force 12.1 turnovers on a nightly basis and have let teams shoot 38.6% from the floor (28th in the country).

Who will win tonight's NCAA game against the spread?

Tony Sink's Pick: Take West Virginia

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