LAWRENCE, Kan. – No. 17 Kansas opens its regular season playing host to Fordham on Monday, Nov. 2. Tip from Allen Fieldhouse will be at 7 p.m. Central and the game will be televised on ESPN+.
KU has won a mind-boggling 53-straight home openers, beginning in 1973-74 under head coach Ted Owens. Owens won his final 10 home openers to start the streak. KU coaches Larry Brown (5-0) and Roy Williams (15-0) never lost a home opener and Bill Self is 23-0.
Kansas went 1-2 in exhibition play this season and is coming off a 90-84 loss to No. 2 Duke on Oct. 25 in the State Farm Blue Blood Classic. Fordham won both its exhibition contests and will be opening its regular-season play at Kansas.
The Kansas-Fordham series dates back to 1940 and KU leads 4-1. The last time these two teams met was Nov. 30, 1977, a KU 99-67 win in Allen Fieldhouse.
Kansas is coming off a 24-11 season where it finished third in the Big 12 with a 12-6 league record and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Fordham posted a 17-15 record in 2025-26 and finished tied for eighth in the 14-team Atlantic 10 Conference with an 8-10 league record.
In its three exhibition contests, KU averaged 82.3 points with a plus-2.0 scoring margin and 43.3 rebounds with a plus-1.6 rebound margin. The Jayhawks also averaged 14.7 assists, 7.0 steals and 4.7 block shots in their three exhibition contests.
Individually, freshman Tyran Stokes led KU in scoring (18.7 ppg), rebounding (7.0 rpg) and with 13 assists in exhibition play. Stokes came close to two double-doubles with 15 points and nine rebounds against Louisville (10.21) and 27 points with eight rebounds versus Duke (10.25). Fifth year Tre White was next in scoring at 16.7 points per game and he made a team-best nine threes in exhibition play. Senior Melvin Council Jr. also averaged in double figures at 10.7 ppg and he tied for the team lead with four steals to go along with 11 assists. Freshman Taylen Kinney averaged 8.0 points and tied Council with four steals to go along with 10 assists. Fifth year Christian Reeves was second in rebounding with 6.7 rpg, while senior Keanu Dawes averaged 5.7 points and 5.7 rebounds in exhibition play.
Kansas finished third in the 2026-27 Big 12 coaches’ preseason poll garnering 186 points. Arizona (220 points) is the coaches’ favorite followed by Houston (214), Kansas, Iowa State (181), and Texas Tech (180), rounding out the top five in the 16-team conference. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own team or student-athletes in the poll.
UP NEXT
Kansas will host Middle Tennessee on Friday, Nov. 6. Tip from Allen Fieldhouse will be at 7 p.m. Central and the game will be televised on ESPN+.