Sweet 16 – Wolfpack vs Jayhawks CBB Handicapping Prediction
Ohio is not the only Cinderella in the Sweet 16, as 11th seed NC State is still alive and both teams are in the Midwest Region.
Venue/ Stadium: Edward Jones Dome, St. Louis, MO
Time/Date: 10:17 PM EST Friday, March 23, 2012
NCAA Odds From: Bovada
Moneyline: NC State +320 / Kansas -400
Spread (ATS): Kansas -8
Over/Under: 142.5
NC State Wolfpack vs. Kansas Jayhawks Preview
They face a staked Kansas team in this game, but the Wolfpack are a hot team scoring 2 upsets so for in the NCA tourney and they narrowly lost to North Carolina in the semifinals of the ACC tournament. NCAAB lines have Kansas as 8-point favorite with a total of 142.5.
In their last games NC State beat Georgetown 66-63 and Kansas came back from an 11-point deficit to beat Purdue 63-60.
This season NC State is 17-14-1 ATS with an O/U record of 19-13 and Kansas is 17-16-1 ATS with an O/U record of 12-20-2.
NC State only shot 37% from the field in their win over Georgetown, but they played solid D, out-rebounded Georgetown, and had 4 starters score in double figures. Wolfpack leading scorer C.J. Leslie went for 14 points in the Georgetown game and the other NC State players must shoot a better FG% against the Jayhawks or they will lose.
NC State did not settle for jumpers in the Georgetown game, as they attacked the rim and were 19/31 from the charity stripe. They need to do that again and get some easy points from the free throw line. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
Kansas has a great frontcourt and in their last game the Wolfpack trio of Richard Howell, Lorenzo Brown, and Leslie combined for 23 rebounds and hitting the boards in this game is key for them and they especially cannot give the Jayhawks 2nd chance opportunities.
Kansas was a little lucky to win the Purdue game since they were ice cold shooting 33.9% from the floor. Player of the Year candidate Thomas Robinson did grab 13 rebounds, but he was only 2/12 from the floor. Star senior G Tyshawn Taylor also struggled in the Purdue game and these guys have to get on track facing a hot NC State squad that is playing with a ton of confidence.
Robinson and 7′ C Jeff Withey must get in the flow of the game and Kansas cannot jack up 24 3-pointers like they did in the Purdue game. Their frontcourt is better and they need to feed their big guys inside and not rely on the J.
In some betting trends for this Midwest Region Sweet 16 game Kansas is 3-5 ATS in their last 8 games, 2-2 ATS in their last 4 neutral site games, and they have an Under record of 4-2 in their last 6 games.
NC State is 7-2-1 ATS in their last 10 games, 5-0 ATS in their last 5 neutral site games, and they have an Over record of 7-3 in their last 10 games.
Jason’s Pick: NC State is hot and I think they will play well in this game and while they will keep it close and cover the spread Kansas will find a way to win and advance to the Elite 8.
