USC at Kansas NCAA Tournament Second Round Odds, Picks and Prediction

DataSkrive

Sportsbook Wire

The No. 6 seed USC Trojans (22-7) and the No. 3 seed Kansas Jayhawks (20-8) play in the NCAA Tournament with a trip to the Sweet 16 of the West Region bracket up for grabs on Monday at Hinkle Fieldhouse, beginning at 9:40 PM ET. USC is a 1.5-point favorite in the Round of 32 contest, which airs on CBS.

In their last game, the Trojans picked up a 72-56 win over Drake and covered the 8-point spread. The teams hit the under on the 134 point total set by sportsbooks. Evan Mobley totaled a team-high 17 points in the victory on Saturday.

Last time out, David McCormack scored 22 points as the Jayhawks earned a 93-84 victory against Eastern Washington on Saturday. The teams combined to score 177 points to hit the over on the 146 point total by bookmakers, while the Jayhawks were 10.5-point favorites and failed to cover the spread.

USC at Kansas: Betting odds, spread and lines

Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports' betting odds for a full list.

Lines last updated at 8:25 AM ET on March 21, 2021.

Money line: USC -130 (bet $130 to win $100) | Kansas +105 (bet $100 to win $105)
Against the spread/ATS: USC -1.5 (-110) | Kansas +1.5 (-110)
Over/Under: 134.5 (O: -110 | U: -110)

USC: Three things to know

Mobley leads the Trojans in scoring (16.8 points per game) and rebounding (8.7 rebounds per game). Tahj Eaddy leads the squad with a team-high 2.0 made three-pointers per game.
The Trojans average 8.3 more points per game (74.7) than the Jayhawks allow (66.4).
USC has a 20-2 record overall and a 15-0-1 record against the spread when putting up more than 66.4 points.

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Kansas: Three things to know

Ochai Agbaji leads the Jayhawks scoring 14.4 points per game. Agbaji leads the squad with a team-high 2.7 made three-pointers per game.
The Jayhawks average nine more points per game (73.8) than the Trojans allow (64.8).
When it scores more than 64.8 points, Kansas is 12-0 against the spread and 16-6 overall.

USC at Kansas: Odds, betting lines, predictions and picks

Prediction

Kansas 71, USC 69

Money line

The model favors the Jayhawks to win contest, disagreeing with the BetMGM money line favorite.

Against the spread (ATS)

The model line is much more favorable to the Jayhawks compared to the MGM line, a 3.1 point difference, and has them favored to win Monday's game outright. Put your money on the Jayhawks.

Over/Under (O/U)

In this matchup, the model projects a total (139.8 points) slightly higher than the MGM over/under (134.5 points).

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