Rock Chalk Weekend Predictions: Kansas Football and Kansas Basketball
By Tony Zuzzio
It is a great weekend to be a Kansas football and Kansas basketball fan! Fresh off Bill Self signing a restructured lifetime contract and Lance Leipold reiterating that he wants KU to be his last job, there is a home basketball game in the Phog against Manhattan followed by an 11:00 a.m. CT football game against Texas Tech.
Kansas Basketball Prediction vs. Manhattan
Fresh off a 61-59 victory over Bryant, Manhattan will enter the Phog looking to spring the upset. Led by a balanced attack in their first game, Manhattan had three players score in double figures. They ground out the victory despite a 1-for-16 night from 3-point range. Add that to the fact that their tallest player stands at 6-foot-9, and it should be a long night for the Jaspers.
Hunter Dickinson will get a kickstart to Thanksgiving month and should feast down low. I see a 26-points and 12-board type of night for Big Hunt. Kevin McCullar, fresh off his career-high 22-point performance in the opener, will continue his senior rise and add another 20 points. KJ will add several highlight dunks on his way with 14 points in my prediction. Jayhawk nation’s favorite Aussie, Johnny Furphy, will knock down shots and get his first double-digit game with 10 points.
Nicolas will knock down a trio of threes for nine points, and Elmarko will slash his way to eight. In his debut, Jamari will score four points, and Parker will add four as well. Dajuan may have sent a message that he doesn’t need to score, and he will prove that against lower competition he is right as he will add two points.
Unfortunately, that is only half the story, as he has proven that his shot has not improved in the offseason, so as much as we won’t need him to score against lower-level competition, he will need to score for us to win against tougher competition. Add in a Jankovich three to the mix.