Auburn vs. Kansas Bracket Prediction: March Madness Odds
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Jeremy Perry
Better to look ugly in a win than pretty in a loss, right?
The Auburn Tigers survived a memorable meltdown in the first round of the 2019 NCAA Tournament, barely hanging on for a win. Now their task gets far more difficult when they face the Kansas Jayhawks on Saturday, who had a virtually perfect first round.
Auburn (5) vs. Kansas (4) NCAA Tournament Point Spread and Betting
Auburn’s narrow win means they’ve now failed to cover in six of their last seven non-conference games. However, they are 4-1 ATS in their last five against the Big 12 and are still 5-2 ATS in their last seven overall.
The Jayhawks have now covered four of their last five games overall. They are also 6-2 ATS in their last eight neutral site affairs. The over has now cashed in four of their last five NCAA Tournament contests.
Auburn Tigers
The Tigers handled the final few minutes of their win over New Mexico State as poorly as possible, but got away with it. They led by 13 points with roughly 6:35 left and began to show signs of stress but they still led by seven points, 73-66, with just under one minute left. Then they made mistake after mistake, doing their best to give away a win, but in the end, they hung on for a victory.
Point guard Jared Harper committed multiple turnovers, including an egregious foul with Auburn up three in the final 15 seconds. Auburn missed a free throw in the final seconds and then fouled New Mexico State when leading by two points at 78-76. New Mexico State had three free throws to try to win the game or at least tie it, but the Aggies made only one of the three foul shots and ended up going home as a result.
Auburn players were shaken after the game but they did survive. Will this help them perform better in the Round of 32 or is that a sign of things to come?
Kansas is not playing with a full complement of players as Udoka Azubuike, Lagerald Vick, and Silvio De Sousa are out of the lineup for three different reasons. However, they’re a stiff upgrade over New Mexico State and are likely to get the win if Auburn gives them these types of opportunities.
Kansas Jayhawks
As shaky as Auburn’s win was, Kansas’ was equally as strong. The Jayhawks did everything right against a smaller, less muscular Northeastern team. Before that game, we said that Northeastern would have no answer for Dedric Lawson and that proved to be the case as he went for 25 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. He hit nine-of-16 shots and three-of-five threes. He was a monster.
The problem for Lawson and Kansas is that Auburn is not undersized like Northeastern was. The Tigers have the bodies and depth that Northeastern lacked, so they’ll be far better equipped to challenge or win. Auburn has players who can create their own shot with a level of speed Northeastern could not provide.
