California Baptist has been on a tear.
Aside from back-to-back losses in mid-February, the Lancers have won all of their games since early January. They went on a nine-game winning streak and bounced back after that pair of losses by rattling off six consecutive victories. That includes a 63-61 win over Utah Valley in the WAC Tournament Championship.
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Led by head coach Rick Croy, No. 13-seeded Cal Baptist (25-8) is taking on No. 4-seeded Kansas (23-10) in the NCAA Tournament’s first round tonight.
The Jayhawks went 12-6 in Big 12 play during the regular season. But they’ve lost five of their last nine games, including a 69-47 loss to Houston in the conference semifinals.
Can Kansas get back to the level it was earlier in the season?
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Kansas vs. Cal Baptist Odds
Cal Baptist is a +13.5 college basketball betting odds underdog against Kansas, with the Over/Under being 139.5 as of this writing.
The moneyline for Kansas is -1100, while it’s +700 for Cal Baptist.
Kansas vs. Cal Baptist On TV
The matchup between Kansas and Cal Baptist will be televised on CBS. The game will tip off at 9:45 p.m. ET on Friday, March 20.
The contest is taking place at Viejas Arena in San Diego, California.
Kansas vs. Cal Baptist Prediction
I predict Cal Baptist will win and therefore cover the 13.5-point spread. I also project the game will go Under 139.5 total points.
The Lancers have star power on the offensive end and are tough on the defensive end of the court.
Dominique Daniels Jr. leads Cal Baptist and is fifth in the country with 23.2 points per game. He makes 43.7% of his shots and 32.8% of his 3-pointers while averaging 3.7 rebounds, 3.2 assists, and one steal per contest.
Led by Thomas Ndong, who averages 6.6 rebounds per game, the Lancers are 18th in the nation in rebounding margin at plus-seven per game. As a team, Cal Baptist is 31st in the country in scoring defense (67.6 PPG allowed) and 48th in defensive field goal percentage (41.69%).
I think Cal Baptist is poised to pull off an upset. I also don’t have much faith in Kansas right now considering how the Jayhawks have played lately.
So I think the Lancers will surprise some people tonight.
