LAWRENCE – The No. 1 Jayhawks (25-3, 14-1 Big 12) will journey to Manhattan on Saturday for the 293rd edition of the Dillons Sunflower Showdown against Kansas State (9-19, 2-13 Big 12).
Tipoff from Bramlage Coliseum is slated for 12:30 p.m. (CT) and will be televised on CBS. Brad Nessler (play-by-play, Jim Spanarkel (analyst) and Evan Washburn (reporter) will call the action.
TIPOFF
With three games remaining in the 2019-20 regular season, No. 1 Kansas (25-3, 14-1) is tied for first in the Big 12 race with No. 2 Baylor (25-2, 14-1).
Kansas is vying to garner win No. 2,300 all-time. KU ranks second in the NCAA all-time with a 2,299-862 record. Kentucky is first at 2,318-711.
Kansas has clinched one of the top two seeds for the 2020 Big 12 Championship in Kansas City. It marks the 19th time in the tournament’s 24 years that the Jayhawks will claim a No. 1 or No. 2 seed.
Kansas has now won 25 or more games for 15-consecutive seasons which is the all-time NCAA record.
KU’s 12-game Big 12 winning streak is the most by a Kansas team since the 2009-10 Jayhawks won 13-straight.
KU is No. 1 in the NET rankings as of Feb. 27 games. The Jayhawks’ strength of schedule is also No. 1. Kansas is the only school with 11 Quadrant 1 wins, currently at 11-3 against Q1 opponents this season.
Kansas ranks in the top-10 nationally in field goal percentage defense (fourth at 37.5%, scoring margin (fifth at +14.4, scoring defense (seventh at 60.6) and field goal percentage (10th at 48.7%).
Udoka Azubuike recorded his 1,000th-career point on Feb. 24 vs. Oklahoma State. He is the sixth Jayhawk to post 1,000 points, 600 rebounds and 150 blocks in a career.
Sophomore Devon Dotson leads the Big 12 in scoring at 17.9 ppg. He is looking to become the fifth Jayhawk and the eighth underclassman to be the league’s top scorer.
In Big 12 play, junior Marcus Garrett is averaging 1.9 steals and an assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.6:1, both of which lead the league. He is also averaging a league-leading 5.4 assists in conference play.
Dotson and Azubuike are members of watch lists for the Naismith Trophy, Wooden Award and Oscar Robertson Trophy, all given to the Player of the Year. Garrett is one of 10 Naismith Defensive Player of the Year semifinalists.
THE KANSAS-KANSAS STATE SERIES
Kansas leads the overall series with Kansas State, 198-94, and has won 10 of the last 11 matchups. Since Feb. 12, 1994, Kansas has won 59 of the last 65 meetings with K-State. This series started in 1907 and Kansas is 78-48 against Kansas State in games played in Manhattan, including a 26-5 record in Bramlage Coliseum. Kansas has gone to Kansas State three times as the No. 1 team in the nation and is 2-1 in those meetings with wins on Jan. 18, 1993 (71-65, Jan. 4, 1997 (62-59) and a loss on Feb. 14, 2011 (84-68). KSU was not ranked in all three meetings and all three were in Bramlage Coliseum.
Since the inception of the Big 12 Conference, KU is 51-6 against KSU (41-6 in regular-season battles and 10-0 in the Big 12 Championship). Kansas head coach Bill Self is 34-6 all-time against K-State, all while at KU. Kansas State’s Bruce Weber is 3-16 against Kansas. Expect a close game as 12 of the last 16 matchups in Bramlage Coliseum have been single-digit outcomes.
UP NEXT
The Jayhawks will host the TCU Horned Frogs for Senior Night on Wednesday. Tipoff from Lawrence is slated for 7 p.m., on Big 12 Now on ESPN+. The Jayhawks have won an incredible 36-consecutive regular-season home finales, a streak that dates back to 1983-84.
KU leads the all-time series with TCU 19-2, which includes a 60-46 victory in Fort Worth in this season’s first meeting. The Jayhawks are 8-0 against TCU in Lawrence and 7-0 in Allen Fieldhouse.
--kuathletics.com--