Kansas To Win AND Hunter Dickinson 15+ Points (-120)
Neither of these bets had very good odds on their own, but I like both of them enough to parlay them together for the odds boost. They both have -260 odds on their own, meaning the oddsmakers think both have a pretty good chance of hitting.
While it has taken much longer than expected and preferred, the Kansas Jayhawks are finally starting to figure some things out. Coach Self is narrowing in on his late-season rotation and a couple of players are gaining some much-needed confidence. Although they are just 3-3 in their last six games, two of those losses were egregiously bad collapses and the third was on the road against a red-hot Kansas State team. One of their wins was a 17-point blowout against Iowa State and it showed just how good this team can be.
Utah, on the other hand, has lost five of their last seven. Their two wins came against Cincinnati and Colorado, who have won just five combined conference games this season. The Utes haven't beaten a ranked team all year and their best win is a home overtime win over sixth-place BYU. With March right around the corner, the Jayhawks should be looking to round into their final form against a struggling Utah team.
For Dickinson, 15 points has become almost a given. He has hit that threshold in seven of his last eight games, with his one miss being a 14-point outing. He is shooting 57-percent in those games on 14 attempts. He is also averaging about 1.5 more free throws in that stretch, which isn't a lot, but it could be the difference between 14 and 15 points.
Total Points Under 145.5 (-105)
Neither of these teams have high-scoring offenses, with both being outside the top 120 in points per game. A big part of that is the fact that neither team is inside the top 130 in possessions per game or within the top 90 in offensive efficiency. A game between two teams that don't push the pace AND don't have efficient offenses is bound to be low-scoring.
The Jayhawks are averaging less than 71 points across their last four games, while the Utes are putting up less than 64 in their last seven contests. Kansas is also worse offensively on the road, averaging just over 65 points away from Allen Fieldhouse in conference play (excluding the 99-point outlier against UCF). While I like the Jayhawks to get the win, I think it is a closely contested and low-scoring affair.