Houston at Kansas: Storylines, odds, watch info for elite defenses in national spot

Two of the Big 12’s best get down to it at The Phog on Saturday evening. Houston may have the best defense in the sport. Kansas is stout, experienced and always tough at home. This should be a very cool and entertaining game.

No. 7 Houston at No. 12 Kansas

No one plays defense quite like the Kelvin Sampson-led Cougars. The swarming chaos has returned to last season’s form, with Houston leading the nation in defensive rating while leading their conference in steals, blocks and rebounds. Kansas fashions itself as a rock fighter, too, with Hunter Dickinson, Dajuan Harris Jr. and KJ Adams largely clamping opponents this year — though Adams is out with a separated shoulder. Saturday’s Big 12 headliner should be a physical, tense and narrow affair.

Few collegiate athletes live up to their name like Emanuel Sharp, who’s been precise on his treys at a 46 percent clip. He’s expected to suit up on Saturday despite a foot injury. Running mate L.J. Cryer is at 42 percent on almost seven takes a game. Houston can shoot the lights out and hit deep, dispiriting tries at any juncture:

What makes this a particularly cool matchup is the way these Jayhawks work to take away the 3-pointer. Opponents are below 29 percent on the season. It gets down to an even uglier 25.8 percent in Big 12 games.

Zeke Mayo has been heating up, hovering around 19 points per game across his last nine. He’s a full 20 percentage points better behind the arc at home than on the road. Dickinson looked particularly locked in and fired up against TCU, and his performance in the prior game against Kansas State was sheerly dominant.

Kansas leads the head-to-head, 6-3. Bill Self’s side had won four straight before last year’s 30-point blowout loss in Houston. Cryer had 11 points in that game, while Dickinson left with a shoulder injury midway through the second half.

All-time NBA starting lineup: Houston

• G — Don Chaney
• G — Otis Birdsong
• F — Clyde Drexler
• F — Elvin Hayes
• C — Hakeem Olajuwon

All-time NBA starting lineup: Kansas

• G — Jo Jo White
• G — Andrew Wiggins
• F — Paul Pierce
• F — Joel Embiid
• C — Wilt Chamberlain

Houston vs. Kansas odds

Odds to come.

(Photo of L.J. Cryer: Alex Slitz / Getty Images)