The Georgetown Hoyas will travel to Allen Fieldhouse to take on a Kansas Jayhawks team that has lost three of its last five games. Both of these teams have seen their national image take a hit since the start of the season, but a win on Saturday would be a good anchor to begin to turn things around on. [ad-4468020]
Georgetown Hoyas (7-2) at 18 Kansas Jayhawks (7-3)
Date: Saturday, December 21, 2013
Time: 12:00 PM ET
Venue: Allen Fieldhouse
City: Lawrence, Kansas
Spread: Kansas -8.5
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Matchup Stats | ATS Insider Preview
Kansas halted a two-game skid in their last contest with an 80-63 win over New Mexico.
The win came on an off night for star Andrew Wiggins as he hit on just 3 of 11 shots from the field for just 11 points. Forward Perry Ellis picked up the scoring load, scoring 21 points on 9 of 14 shooting and adding nine rebounds with a steal and a block. Center Joel Embild chipped in a career-high 18 points on 5 of 6 shooting, hitting on 8 of his 10 free throw attempts.
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As a team, the Jayhawks shot 51.9 percent from the floor. Poor three-point shooting plagued the team in their three losses as they hit on just 31.8 percent of their long range shots in those defeats, and they also hit on just 35.7 percent of their threes against the Lobos.
Kansas clamped down tight defensively in that one, allowing New Mexico to shoot just 33.3 percent from the field, and just 14.3 percent from the land beyond.
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After Kendall Williams and Cameron Bairstow’s 24 points apiece, no one on New Mexico scored more than five points.
For Georgetown, they’ve shaken off a slow start to win six straight games, the latest being an 85-76 win over Elon.
Guard Markel Starks paced the team in scoring in that win, scoring 21 points on 5 of 13 shooting from the field, hitting on 4 of 5 three-point attempts.
Fellow guard D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera added 19 points and a team-high seven boards, while center Joshua Smith chipped in 18 points on 7 of 9 shooting. As a team, the Hoyas shot 53,8 percent from the floor and 54.5 percent from three.
As good as the team’s offense was, their defense left a lot to be desired as Elon was permitted to shoot 50 percent from the floor and 44.8 percent from long range.
No reason for the team to have been caught off guard either as Elon’s bench produced only nine points.
As much as Kansas has struggled of late, they are still a team that knows how to play in their own building. The Jayhawks are 164-8 at home under Bill Self, including 3-0 this season. Expect Wiggins and company to figure things out and get it going against the Hoyas.
The Jayhawks are 13-6 ATS in their last 19 home games.
The play: Kansas -8.5
