Kansas at West Virginia: 5 storylines for 2020-21 Big 12 matchup

Race to 70

The fewer points you surrender to your opponents, the easier it is to win. That is one rule of thumb that is timeless in basketball. Despite how obvious that statement is, there is a particular number that seems to be important for both teams to either reach or to prevent their opponents from reaching.

The Jayhawks are the better of the two teams defensively as they surrender 66 points per conference game while West Virginia surrenders over 72 points. The number that seems to be the most important is the 70 point mark and for different reasons.

The Jayhawks have surrendered 70 or more points in four of their Big 12 games and have lost all of them while scoring 70 points themselves just once in those losses. Unlike the Jayhawks who average 69 points per game, the Mountaineers are more than capable of surpassing the 70 point mark as they average over 74 points per game.

Despite their ability to score over 70,  the Mountaineers have split the six conference games where they surrendered more than 70 points even though they themselves scored over 70 points in each game, except for the game versus Kansas. Getting off to a good start will be key in order to total 70 points versus Kansas and will be a good sign as the Mountaineers’ second-half scoring is on average five points better at 40 points than their first-half scoring.