CenturyLink Arena – Omaha, NE
NCAA Tournament – Round of 32
Tip-off: Sunday, 5:15 p.m. ET
Line: Kansas -1.0

There will be plenty of emotion when cross-town foes, Wichita State and Kansas, meet for the first time in school history in the NCAA tournament Sunday.

Here is the BetDSI Sportsbook betting preview for this matchup:

Wichita State has been begging for a chance to play Kansas and the Jayhawks have not accepted the challenge. Now they’ll have no choice but to play the Shockers and a spot in the Sweet 16 is going to be on the line in this one. Wichita State faced Indiana in the second round of the NCAA tournament and won 81-76 as a 6.5-point favorite. The Shockers have lost three straight games ATS, but they have won nine of their past 10 games SU. The Jayhawks, meanwhile, won-and-covered in a 75-56 victory over New Mexico State Friday. The Shockers’ past two games have gone Over the total and the Jayhawks’ past four have gone Under. Wichita State is 39-18 ATS after one or more consecutive wins over the past two seasons. The team is also 24-12 ATS in non-conference games over the past three seasons. Kansas, meanwhile, is 7-1 ATS when coming off of a win by 15 or more points. The Jayhawks are also up against a Wichita State team that is just 2-12 ATS as a neutral court underdog of three points or less since 1997. F Zach Bush (Foot) is out indefinitely for the Shockers and F Cliff Alexander (eligibility) is out indefinitely for Kansas.

Wichita State is an outstanding defensive team, allowing just 56.4 PPG (8th in NCAA) thanks to 7.0 SPG (78th in NCAA). The Shockers are no slouches on offense though, scoring 69.7 PPG (108th in NCAA) on 44.6% shooting (102nd in NCAA). G Ron Baker (15.0 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 2.5 APG, 1.4 SPG) is the leading scorer for this team, but he struggled against Indiana last game. He scored 15 points (3-for-13 FG, 0-for-5 3PT), but was very off and will need to find his stroke against the Jayhawks. One thing about Baker is that he can contribute in other ways when he’s having a poor shooting game, as he did have five boards, two assists and five steals in the victory over the Hoosiers. G Fred VanVleet (13.1 PPG, 5.3 APG, 4.4 RPG, 1.8 SPG) made sure he picked his game up with Baker struggling from the floor, pouring in 27 points (9-for-18 FG, 9-for-10 FT) and also dishing out four assists in 37 minutes. He’ll need to continue to get to the basket and finish at the rim. The Jayhawks’ backcourt is extremely aggressive, so he should be able to draw fouls once again. F Darius Carter (11.1 PPG, 5.4 RPG) had nine points and seven boards against Indiana. Carter will need to be extremely tough in this game, as the Jayhawks have size inside and he is counted on to be big on the glass. F Zach Brown (3.2 PPG) had a huge game for the Shockers in the second round, finishing with 11 points and eight boards in 23 minutes. He showed a ton of confidence in that game and could be an x-factor for this team if he is able to perform at a high level once again.

The Jayhawks have played well offensively all season, averaging 71.2 PPG (80th in NCAA) on 44.0% shooting (140th in NCAA). It hasn’t all been as good on the defensive end though, allowing 64.4 PPG (122nd in NCAA). F Perry Ellis (13.7 PPG, 6.8 RPG) is the Jayhawks’ most important player and he has not been healthy recently. Ellis had nine points in 23 minutes against New Mexico State and is averaging just 9.0 PPG over his past three as well. He will need to find his game against Wichita State or it will be very tough for them to beat a hungry Shockers team. G Frank Mason III (12.5 PPG, 4.0 APG, 3.9 RPG, 1.4 SPG) has stepped it up with Ellis struggling, averaging 15.0 PPG, 6.5 RPG and 4.0 APG over the past two contests. Mason is very quick and knows how to get himself to the basket or find his teammates. He is also a very good outside shooter (42% 3PT) and he’ll be heavily counted on to score in this game. G Wayne Selden Jr. (9.7 PPG, 2.9 RPG, 2.7 APG) has taken his game to a new level lately. He averaged 22.5 PPG in the two games before the NCAA tournament, but he got himself in foul trouble last round. Selden Jr. had just six points in 20 minutes against New Mexico State and he must be disciplined on defense this game as his team really needs him on the floor. He is excellent when attacking the basket and his ability to score will be huge if Ellis isn’t at 100%. Freshman Gs Devonte Graham (5.3 PPG, 2.1 APG) and Kelly Oubre Jr. (9.3 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 1.1 SPG) combined to score 16 points last game. Both players are very talented and know how to score the basketball. They’ll need to be on their games against the Shockers in this one.