Kansas vs Kansas State Odds, Lines, and Spread

• The Kansas State Wildcats (5-17, 1-12 Big 12) host the in-state rival Kansas Jayhawks (15-7, 9-5 Big 12) Wednesday, Feb. 17
• The reeling ‘Cats have lost 12 straight games, the longest single-season losing streak in program history
• Read below for odds, analysis, and our best bet for this matchup

The Kansas State Wildcats (5-17, 1-12 Big 12), owners of the longest losing skid in program history at a dozen games, host the in-state rival Kansas Jayhawks (15-7, 9-5 Big 12) Wednesday, Feb. 17 in Manhattan. Tip is set for 8pm ET at Bramlage Coliseum.

Not surprisingly, Kansas is a heavy road favorite against Kansas State.

Kansas vs Kansas State Odds

Odds taken Feb. 15 at FanDuel

While KSU appears to be headed for only its second season with a single-digit win total (the program went 9-19 during the 1999-00 season), Kansas seems to have righted the ship. Bill Self’s squad has won four of its last five after losing four of five.

Since falling out of the AP poll Feb. 8 for the first time after a record 231 straight weeks of being ranked, the Jayhawks have won three straight. Now, KU heads to the Little Apple in search of its 12th win in 13 tries against Bruce Weber’s struggling program.

Double-Double Machine

Jalen Wilson is the first freshman in Kansas men’s basketball history to record four consecutive double-doubles. Let that sink in for a minute. Coming off a 22-point, 10-rebound effort in Saturday’s 64-50 win over Iowa State, the 6-foot-8, 220-pound small forward from Denton, Texas has done something Danny Manning, Nick Collison, Raef LaFrentz, Drew Gooden and a host of other prominent Jayhawks weren’t able to do.

LaFrentz and Gooden each posted a school-record seven straight double-doubles during their time in Lawrence — but they didn’t do it as freshman.

Not so coincidentally, Kansas has turned its season around during Wilson’s historic run. KU didn’t shoot the ball particularly well against the Cyclones, going only 36% from the field for the game. But the Jayhawks were improved in the second half, shooting 44%.

Despite their drop out of the rankings for the first time since 2009 this season, the Jayhawks have never fallen below No. 27 in KenPom’s ratings. Currently at No. 24 overall, Self’s group is a top-20 club (No. 19) from a defensive standpoint, limiting opponents to 91.4 points per 100 possessions. Against a vastly inferior Wildcat team Tuesday, Wilson and Co. should have little issue with KSU.

No Moral Victories

Unlike some of the previous outings over Kansas State’s historic 12-game losing skid started Jan. 2 — when Weber’s team showed tenacity pushing a handful of better teams to the brink — Saturday’s effort against Oklahoma State was different. Yes, the final score ended up being a respectable 67-60. But this one felt way worse than a seven-point defeat.

K-State was flat-out overmatched by Cade Cunningham and co. A cold offensive performance didn’t help. The Wildcats converted only 25% of their shots in the first half, missing all eight of their 3-point attempts and going only 4-of-16 on layups! Despite Weber’s proclamations — he spoke of his team battling and not quitting in the postgame press conference — the ‘Cats’ performance on the floor says otherwise.

Freshman guard Nijel Pack leads K-State in scoring, averaging 12.6 points per game. But this is a team rated dead-last in the Big 12 by KenPom at No. 191. For context purposes, the Sun Belt’s Louisiana is No. 190 and 2-7 San Diego of the West Coast Conference is No. 192.

Any Hope?

Pack may be Weber’s best first-year player during his current nine-year run in Manhattan. But no matter how well the 6-foot guard from Indianapolis plays Tuesday, knocking off the suddenly defense-first Jayhawks — let alone staying within the big spread — will be an exceedingly tall order.

As noted above, KU has been able to hang its hat on defense all season. That was very evident Saturday in a game that was tied 24-all at halftime. Self has preached to his team winning ugly is OK. The veteran head coach has called upon players to take more pride on the defensive end, something he said he saw on Saturday. To wit, In KU’s three-game winning streak, opponents have been held to 66 or fewer points in each game while shooting no better than 38% from the field.

If KSU can muck it up, maybe the Wildcats can hang around. But if not, Tuesday’s affair could ugly in the second half.

The pick: Kansas -13 (-110)