Miami Hurricanes vs Kansas Jayhawks Betting Preview/Prop Pick

The Midwest Regional is down to just two teams, and each team comes from a Power 5 Conference. The Elite Eight game features the Miami Hurricanes taking on the Kansas Jayhawks with a trip to the Final Four on the line.

Miami is the number 10 seed in the Midwest Region, but they have looked like one of the best teams in the country in March. The Hurricanes have picked up double-digit wins over Auburn and Iowa State to get to this point.

Kansas has been tested as the number two seed, but they always make enough plays to survive and advance. The Jayhawks won the Big 12 Conference this season, and they got past Providence in the Sweet 16 on Friday night. 

The Kansas Jayhawks are six-point betting favorites over the Miami Hurricanes in this Elite Eight game. 

Hurricanes Hounding Opponents

The Miami Hurricanes want to play fast on both ends of the floor, but their biggest strength has been on the defensive end. Miami is holding opponents to right around 60 points per game in the NCAA Tournament, and they are great at jumping into passing lanes. 

The Hurricanes are averaging nearly nine steals per game, and they are great at turning those steals or deflections into points. Miami is shooting close to 48 percent from the floor, and plenty of layups are included in those numbers.

Kameron McGusty and Isaiah Wong are the two best offensive players for Miami, and each are capable of taking over this game. 

Kansas Can Score

The Kansas Jayhawks are scoring close to 80 points per game this season, but they haven’t been as explosive in the NCAA Tournament. Kansas ran into a tough Providence defense on Friday, and that will happen again in this matchup. 

Remy Martin poured in 23 points in the win over Providence, and Ochai Agbaji is averaging nearly 20 points per game. Kansas will get great production from those two stars, but they need other players to step up as well.

Head coach Bill Self always has his team playing great defense, and that will be a key in this matchup. The Jayhawks are long and athletic, and they will make it hard for Miami to get any clean looks on offense. 

Kansas Cruises to Final Four

The Kansas Jayhawks are now the betting favorites to win the National Championship, and it’s hard to see them not getting to the Final Four. Miami does a lot of things that can cause a problem, but Kansas will have an answer for all of them.

The Hurricanes have been shooting the ball extremely well during this run, but nothing comes easy against Kansas. On the other end, Kansas will use its size advantage to get plenty of easy buckets in the paint. 

It’s been a great run for the Hurricanes, but they just aren’t quite good enough to win one more game. Bet the Kansas Jayhawks -6.0 over the Miami Hurricanes, as this game will end up being a double-digit outcome.

Prop Pick

Kansas (-115) OVER 76.5 Points

Kansas is averaging 78.6 points per game on offense, which ranks No. 29 in the nation, while shooting 48.0 percent from the field, which ranks No. 23. Scores have gone OVER in seven of the Jayhawks’ last 11 NCAA Tournament games.

With Dunkel predicting a Kansas victory by the score of 83-69, take the Jayhawks (-115) to finish OVER their Vegas team total of 76.5 points against the Hurricanes.

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