Kansas Jayhawks vs Oklahoma Sooners Match Preview – Players to Watch, Prediction, Injuries, and Starting Five

Published 01/12/2024, 11:27 AM EST

The Kansas Jayhawks will lock horns with the Oklahoma Sooners at the Allen Fieldhouse on Saturday. Both the teams have a 13-2 stat, and are ranked at the fourth spot in the Big 12.

While the Kansas occupy the third spot in the men’s AP Polls, the Sooners are positioned at the ninth spot in the rankings. This will be a much-anticipated contest for their respective fans.

Players to Watch

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For the Jayhawks nothing can take away the spotlight from their guard Kevin McCullar Jr. He has basketed a whopping 19.8 points per game with 6.7 rebounds per match.

His best came against the Yale Bulldogs when he smashed an unbelievable 34 points. Coming into this game he would be looking to perform his best and challenge the Sooners by setting an unassailable lead.

Another player who will steal the show is their center Hunter Dickinson. Dickinson has already drawn comparisons to one of the best players this season, the Purdue Boilermakers Zach Edey.

He has played the second fiddle throttling 18.9 points per game and an astonishing 11.9 rebounds per match. Thus he has used height to his advantage. It will be interesting to see how the Sooners stop Dickinson.

For the Sooners, their guard Javian McCollum has been in top form. He has besotted a decent 14.9 points per game and will be looking to attack the Jayhawks right from the start. His best performance came against the Central Arkansas Bears when he thrashed a season-high 23 points.

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He tried his best and put up a resilient show against the TCU Horned Frogs by dropping 17 points in an 80-71 loss. If the Sooners are to win this, then McCollum will be at the center of their plans.

Head to Head

As per Basketball Reference, the Jayhawks have clashed with the the Sooners 159 times from 1949-50 season. The overall record has gone in the Jayhawk’s favor who have won 114 games and lost 45. As per the official Oklahoma site, they last met in February 2023 when the Jayhawks won the game by a 78-55 margin. The two sides have enough history to have a competitive game between the two.

Prediction

The Kansas might have the advantage in these games over the Oklahoma because they are a better-ranked team and also the game will be played at the Allen Fieldhouse. The Sooners only have a chance to provide an upset if their star player McCollum plays well.

For the Kansas this might be an easy victory if they are able to execute their strategies well against the Sooners.

Injuries

The Kansas Jayhawks forward Zach Clemence has redshirted this season. As per The Jayhawk Slant, Clemence had entered the transfer portal at the end of his sophomore year. He was selected by UC Santa Barbara but then decided to come back to the KU and redshirt this season.

According to the same source the Jayhawks head coach Bill Self stated that “And Zach’s thinking was, it would be in his best interest to, in a perfect world, to redshirt and help us every day in practice and allow himself an opportunity to grow and get better.”

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Starting five

Kansas Jayhawks: Kevin McCullar Jr., Hunter Dickinson, K.J. Adams Jr., Dajuan Harris Jr., Johnny Furphy

Oklahoma Sooners: Javian McCollum, Otega Oweh, John Hugley IV, Jalon Moore, Milos Uzan

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Overall, it will be an exciting match for the viewers.

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Written by:

“Monks don’t retire to mountains for Nirvana, they go there in search of the lost script”. That was me as an engineer looking for a place where my ‘ikigai’ of doing things could be realized. The feeling became fierce when I watched the legendary trio of Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman creating commotion.

Edited by:

Bilal Handoo

Kansas Jayhawks vs Oklahoma Sooners Match Preview – Players to Watch, Prediction, Injuries, and Starting Five

Players to Watch

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Head to Head

Prediction

Injuries

Starting five