One of the best matchups of the regular season goes down Monday night in Lawrence, KS as the surging No. 11 Kansas Jayhawks host the undefeated No. 1 Arizona Wildcats.
The Jayhawks are playing their best basketball of the season, so I’m backing the home team with my Arizona vs. Kansas predictions and college basketball picks for February 9.
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Arizona vs Kansas prediction
Arizona vs Kansas best bet: Kansas moneyline (+125)
The Kansas Jayhawks have found another level over the last month, notching seven consecutive victories, including wins over three ranked teams in Texas Tech, BYU, and Iowa State.
Five-star freshman Darryn Peterson, arguably the best player in the country, appears to finally be healthy after notching his two highest minute totals of the season in his last two games.
The potential No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft is a game-breaker, averaging 20.5 ppg on 48.9% from the field and 41.9% from three. Kansas didn’t look like the same team when he missed 10 games earlier in the season, so their outlook is significantly altered if the precocious guard can handle 30+ minutes a night.
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The Jayhawks are the No. 8 team in BartTorvik over the last month, four spots behind the Arizona Wildcats. Tommy Lloyd’s squad hasn’t been playing at its peak level on offense (25th in adjusted efficiency during that span), and Kansas has the defensive chops (sixth in adjusted efficiency) to limit this group.
It’s extremely difficult to run the table in college basketball, and this would be an understandable spot for the Wildcats to drop a game. There are three freshmen in the starting lineup for a road game against a Top-10 team over the last month, and Bill Self has never lost a Big Monday game.
Arizona vs Kansas same-game parlay
Peterson is a lethal scorer, but he’s coming off a poor week in which he shot 10 of 26 from the field (38.5%).
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Self challenged Peterson to be better this week, and he likely will. He’s been one of the most efficient scorers in the country, and he’s now playing a higher allotment of minutes, so both efficiency and volume are accounted for in a pace-up spot.
Tre White shoots 42.5% from downtown, and his marksmanship will be needed to space out a massive Arizona defense.
Arizona vs Kansas SGP
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Darryn Peterson Over 20.5 points
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Tre White Over 1.5 3-pointers
Our beyond the arc SGP: Rock chalk Jayhawk
Kansas has played to the Under at Phog Allen (3-8 O/U) and has a defense-first identity, so a lower-scoring game correlates well with a Jayhawks victory. Self will look to impose his team’s preferred style of play by slowing things down against a Wildcats team that thrives when it pushes the tempo.
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Peterson and White are two high-usage players, and their player props therefore don’t necessarily correlate with either side of the total.
Arizona vs Kansas SGP
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Darryn Peterson Over 20.5 points
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Tre White Over 1.5 3-pointers
Arizona vs Kansas odds
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Spread: Arizona -1.5 | Kansas +1.5
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Moneyline: Arizona -130 | Kansas +110
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Over/Under: Over 153 | Under 153
Arizona vs Kansas betting trend to know
Kansas is 38-0 in Big Monday games during the Bill Self era. Find more college basketball betting trends for Arizona vs. Kansas.
How to watch Arizona vs Kansas
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Location |
Allen Fieldhouse, Lawrence, KS |
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Date |
Monday, February 9, 2026 |
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Tip-off |
9:00 p.m. ET |
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TV |
ESPN |
Arizona vs Kansas key injuries
Odds are correct at the time of publishing and are subject to change.
Not intended for use in MA.
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This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here
