Bill Self on Lagerald Vick's status for the rest of the season: "We know we won't have him this weekend and it'd be hard to see him helping us early next week. It's still kind of an open ended question."<doc-sep>NORMAN, Okla. — At the half, No. 13-ranked KU basketball trails Oklahoma, 41-28 at Lloyd Noble Center. Here are three takeaways from the first period... Sooner shot-making: Similar to KU's most recent game, when the Jayhawks allowed Oklahoma State to hit seven 3-point shots in the first half, it was a hot shooting start for Oklahoma. The Sooners began the game hitting on seven of their first eight shots from the field. They hit their fifth 3-pointer of the half just before the 12:20 mark, and they actually began by making four of their first five looks from distance. Bill Self took a pair of timeouts early as the Jayhawks waited for the Sooners to cool off. But similar to the Texas Tech loss, the Jayhawks dug themselves a big hole to climb out of. At the time of Self's second timeout, following a 14-0 Oklahoma run, the Sooners were averaging better than 1.5 points per possession. Put another way, if OU had attempted a 2-point shot on every possession, it would have been as if they made at least 75 percent of them. Brady Manek had 10 points at that point — OU led 23-7 — scoring with a nifty post move and knocking down two shots from 3-point range. KU's leader in scoring at that point was Dedric Lawson (eight first-half points), who hit a 3-pointer for his first field-goal make. KU never held the lead in the first half. SIGN UP FOR VIP ACCESS WITH PHOG.NET! CLICK HERE! Trying to keep it close: The Jayhawks did not let things get too far out — at least initially — in the half. After a Manek 3-pointer brought the score to 26-9, the Jayhawks responded with an easy score on an alley-oop to David McCormack. Quentin Grimes banked in a 3-pointer and McCormack scored again vs. Manek inside. Devon Dotson capped off a 9-0 run with a layup, as the Jayhawks cut the margin to single-figures. Oklahoma did, however, quickly push it back out to 12, which led to Self's third timeout of the period. At the time of that timeout — OU led 30-18 at the 7:22 mark — KU was shooting 2 for 10 from 3, compared to 6-for-10 3-point shooting from OU. The Sooners would score six more points after the timeout to take an 18-point lead, their largest of the half at the time. They led by as many as 19, but the Jayhawks closed the half well. Marcus Garrett hit two shots to cut the deficit to 13. Post touches: The gameplan for KU appeared to be to work the ball inside early and often in the first half, especially when McCormack was being guarded by Manek. The freshman big man, who had struggled at times and looked a little too sped up, showed off a nice touch in the first half, scoring seven points on 3-for-5 shooting. McCormack's post-hook was the most prevalent part of his offensive game early, though he was not without mistake. McCormack was tagged with his first foul early in the contest chasing after an offensive rebound. For the period, McCormack was credited with two rebounds, one assist and one steal in 10 minutes. He did not pick up a second foul.<doc-sep>Kansas vs. Oklahoma Prediction Will No. 13 Kansas be able to go on the road and pick up a win over Oklahoma when the two Big 12 foes meet up tonight at 9PM ET? Game Snapshot & Odds 633 Kansas vs. 634 Oklahoma Tuesday, March 5, 2019 9PM ET – Lloyd Noble Center TV: ESPN2 Compare odds and from multiple different online sportsbooks and shop for the best lines at our new College Basketball Odds & Betting Page. Public Betting Trends According to oddsmakers at BetNow.eu, Kansas is the very slim favorite on the road, as the Jayhawks are getting odds of -1 point against the Sooners. The over/under total for the contest is listed at 142.5 points. The public betting currently has 73 percent going on Kansas on the road. This information is subject to change, however, so be sure to check out our College Basketball Public Betting Page for updated figures on the game. Jayhawks trying to heat up Kansas is coming off a 72-67 win at Oklahoma State. The Jayhawks have won five of their last six games and are 4-2 against the spread in those six games. Kansas is 22-7 on the season, 11-5 in the Big 12, 3-7 on the road, 13-16 against the spread and 17-11-1 with the over. The Jayhawks are putting up 75.8 points per game this season while shooting 46.7 percent from the field. Defensively, Kansas is giving up 69.8 points per game while opponents shoot just 40.6 percent against them. Lagerald Vick continues to be out for Kansas. He is averaging 14.1 points per game. Dedric Lawson is leading the team with 19.0 points and 10.4 rebounds per contest. Oklahoma looking for signature win The Sooners are coming off a 92-80 win over West Virginia at home. Oklahoma has won three of its last four games, beating the likes of WVU, Texas and TCU. The Sooners are now 18-11 on the season, 6-10 in the Big 12, 10-4 at home, 18-8-3 against the spread and 18-11 with the under. Oklahoma is putting up 71.4 points per game on offense while shooting 44.4 percent as a team. Defensively, the Jayhawks are giving up 68.1 points per game while opponents shoot 40.2 percent against them. Christian James is leading the team with 15.1 points and 6.6 rebounds per game while Brady Manek is adding 11.7 points and 6.2 rebounds per contest. College Basketball Betting Trends Kansas The Jayhawks are 1-6 against the spread in their last seven road games and 1-5 ATS in their last six road games against a team with a winning home record. Oklahoma The Sooners are 3-0-1 ATS in their last four Tuesday games and 10-3-1 ATS in their last 14 games following a cover. Prediction: Oklahoma has been a problem for Kansas over the year. The Sooners have covered the spread in four of the last five meetings against the Jayhawks. That includes a road cover for the Sooners back in January. Kansas has not been trustworthy on the road, going just 5-9 against the spread away from home. They are putting up under 70 points per game on the road as well. Oklahoma will be up for this rivalry game and I like the Sooners to pick up the win at home. College Basketball Prediction: Oklahoma +1<doc-sep>
It’s all over but the seeding for the Oklahoma Sooners. OU put a definitive end to No. 13 Kansas’ streak of Big 12 regular season championships at 14 with an 81-68 win over the Jayhawks on Tuesday night at Lloyd Noble Center. The victory ran OU’s record to 19-11 overall and 7-10 in conference play. In the process, coach Lon Kruger’s team almost certainly assured itself of a second consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament. It would be the sixth bid to the big dance in Kruger’s eight seasons in Norman. The Sooners raced out to a 26-9 lead on the Jayhawks within the first 10 minutes of the game and never looked back. OU started off scorching the nets from the perimeter, hitting nine of 23 three-point shots in the game. That included three bombs from sophomore forward Brady Manek. Manek’s 21 points were topped only by a 24-point outburst from his front court mate Kristian Doolittle. Doolittle also snagged 11 rebounds to lead the Sooners. Guard Rashard Odomes chipped in 12 points, making him the only other Sooner to finish in double figures in scoring. Bieniemy with the steal and sweet dish to Manek for the slam.#BoomerSooner pic.twitter.com/lLNb7TFF0Z — OUHoops (@ouhoops) March 6, 2019 No one in Norman will complain, but the Jayhawks played surprisingly listless basketball for a squad on the verge of seeing a historic string of Big 12 titles crumble. While KU got within 13 points of the Sooners at halftime, OU’s lead ballooned to more than 20 points in the second period. A 13-2 run by the Jayhawks in the final three minutes of the game made the final margin a little more palatable for the visitors. Big men Dedric Lawson and David McCormack led KU with 18 points each. Nevertheless, OU outscored KU 32-26 in the paint. The Sooners also forced 15 Jayhawk turnovers, which the home team converted into 21 points. ESPN announcer Jon Sciambi, who occasionally goes by the nickname “Boog,” mentioned at the outset of the game’s broadcast that Joe Lunardi, the Worldwide Leader’s resident bracketologist known to some as “Joey Brackets,” had declared OU a March Madness lock with a win Tuesday night. As of Tuesday morning, Lunardi had pegged the Sooners as a 10 seed. If the Sooners harbor any doubts about their postseason plans, a win over the No. 18 Kansas State Wildcats in Manhattan on Saturday would go a long way toward easing their minds. When the two teams met in January on OU’s home floor, KSU left town with a comfortable 74-61 win. Given the Sooners’ strength of schedule, they should probably train their sights on the possibility of moving up to the seven-seed line for the NCAA Tournament with a W. Beating KSU combined with a win or two in the Big 12 Tournament next week might do the trick.