No. 9/11 Kansas Travels to TCU Wednesday in Men’s Hoops

G20: #9/11 Kansas at TCU
Date/Time Jan. 28, 2015/8 p.m. (Central)
Location Fort Worth, Texas
Arena Wilkerson-Greines Activity Center (4,750)
Series Kansas leads 7-1
Television ESPNU
Clay Matvick (Play-by-Play)
Tim Welsh (Analyst)
Radio Jayhawk Radio Network
Bob Davis (Play-by-Play)
Greg Gurley (Analyst)
Bob Newton (Engineer)
Live Stats KUAthletics.com
Notes Kansas
TCU
Big 12 Conference
Stats at a Glance KU TCU
Record 16-3, 5-1 14-5, 1-5
Rankings #9/11
Points/GM 72.4 71.2
Points Allowed/GM 64.7 57.3
FG% .435 .464
Rebounds/GM 39.1 39.1
Assists/GM 14.2 14.2
Blocks/GM 4.8 5.8
Steals/GM 6.7 5.8

Kansas Continues Its Road Swing in the Lone Star State
No. 9/11 Kansas (16-3, 5-1) continues its two-game road swing at TCU (14-5, 1-5) on Wednesday, Jan. 28, at 8 p.m., on ESPNU. The Jayhawks won their second-straight game against nationally-ranked competition with a 75-62 win at No. 17/18 Texas Jan. 24. TCU is looking to snap a two-game losing streak after its 86-85 overtime loss at No. 18/17 West Virginia, also on Jan. 24.
 
The KU at TCU game will be played at Wilkerson-Greines Activity Center (4,750) in Fort Worth, Texas, as TCU is renovating its home arena, a cost of $59 million, which should be ready for the 2015-16 season.
 
Historically, in Kansas’ 14 Big 12 Conference regular-season championship titles, the Jayhawks have been 5-1 or better to start conference play 13 times. In 2006, KU was 4-2 through its first six Big 12 games yet bounced back to win the regular-season title.
 
About Kansas
No. 11/14 Kansas (16-3, 5-1) enters the week with a half-game lead on Sunflower State-rival Kansas State (12-8, 5-2) and a one-game edge on Iowa State (14-4, 3-2) and West Virginia (16-3, 4-2) in the Big 12 race. The Jayhawks have won two-straight and went 3-1 against nationally-ranked foes in their last four games. Kansas scores 72.4 points per game and has a +7.7 scoring margin. The Jayhawks have outrebounded each of their last five opponents, average 39.1 boards per game and have a +6.8 rebound margin. KU leads the Big 12 in three-point field goal percentage at 39.4 percent and averages 14.2 assists, 6.7 steals and 4.8 blocked shots per game.
 
Junior F Perry Ellis scored 14 points and pulled down five rebounds in the road win at Texas (1/24) and leads KU with 12.8 points and 6.6 rebounds per game. Ellis is eighth in the Big 12 scoring and fifth in rebounding. His 43.5 field goal percentage is 15th in the league. Sophomore G Frank Mason III is just behind Ellis with 12.7 points per game, which is ninth in the conference. He posted a career-high 21 points at Iowa State (1/17) and has 16-straight games scoring in double figures. Mason is fourth in the league in assists with 4.2 per game and fourth in free throw percentage at 81.8 percent. He is second on the KU team with 25 three-pointers and pulls down 3.9 rebounds per game. Sophomore G Wayne Selden, Jr., leads Kansas with 26 three-pointers made after his 2-for-3 effort at Texas (1/24). Selden scores 8.9 points per contest and is second on the team with 59 assists. Rounding out the KU starters are freshman G Kelly Oubre, Jr., and junior F Jamari Traylor. Oubre has started 11 games this season, including the last 10 straight, and is averaging 11.3 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.0 steals in Big 12 play. He averages 8.6 points and 4.8 rebounds per game overall in 2014-15. Oubre’s 21 steals are second on the team to Mason’s 25 and he has made 19 three-pointers this season. Traylor scores 5.1 points per contest and pulls down 3.9 rebounds. His 23 blocked shots for the season are second on the team.
 
Named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week (1/26), freshman F Cliff Alexander has averaged 14.5 points and 11.0 rebounds in his last two games, both KU victories. Included was his second double-double of the season with 13 points and a career-high 13 rebounds against Oklahoma (1/19). Alexander leads Kansas in blocked shots with 26 and in field-goal percentage at 57.0 percent. He is 23-for-35 (65.7 percent) from the field in Big 12 play. Alexander scores 8.7 points per game and his 6.0 rebound average is second on the team behind Ellis. Freshman G Devonte’ Graham returned to the lineup against Texas Tech (1/10) after missing a month (six games) with a sprained toe. In his five games back, Graham has averaged 5.8 points and 4.0 assists. In that span, he has dished out an impressive 20 assists with only one turnover. Graham is scoring 5.8 points per game for the season. Sophomore G Brannen Greene has averaged 13 points in his last two games with seven three-pointers in that span. He has made 24 three-pointers this season which is two behind Selden’s team-high 26. Greene has two starts and is scoring 5.7 points per game. Freshman G Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk scores 4.1 points per game and has made 14 three-pointers. Mykhailiuk has started six games in his initial campaign as a Jayhawk. Sophomore F Landen Lucas has started eight games this season and averages 2.2 points and 3.1 rebounds per game. He logged 12 minutes against Oklahoma State (1/13) and a career-high 19 minutes at Iowa State (1/17).
 
About TCU
Located in Fort Worth, Texas, with an enrollment of 10,033, TCU will be facing its third-straight nationally-ranked team when it hosts Kansas. TCU fell to No. 17/18 Texas, 66-48, on Jan. 19, and at No. 18/17 West Virginia, 86-85 in overtime, on Jan. 24. TCU is coached by Trent Johnson who is 34-48 in his third season at TCU and 260-233 in his 16th season overall. TCU is 10-3 at home, 2-2 away and 2-0 on neutral courts this season. The Horned Frogs, which returned 82.4 percent of their scoring and 82.8 percent of their rebounding from last season, went 13-0 in non-conference play this season. That ranked as their best non-league record in program history. TCU averages 71.2 points and has a +13.9 scoring margin which leads the Big 12. TCU also leads the conference in scoring defense at 57.3 percent and is second in the league, third nationally, in field goal percentage defense at 35.1 percent. TCU has attempted 531 free throws which is also third in NCAA Division I.
 
Senior G Kyan Anderson leads TCU in scoring at 13.7 points per game, which is seventh in the Big 12. Anderson leads the Horned Frogs with 30 three-pointers made, 74 assists and 27 steals. He leads the Big 12 in free throw percentage at 89.2 percent, is fifth in assists (3.9) and seventh in steals (1.4). Senior G Trey Zeigler is next in scoring at 8.7 points per game. He is second on the team with 43 assists. Sophomore F Kenrich Williams leads TCU in rebounds with 6.6 per game, which ranks sixth in the Big 12. He scores 8.4 points per game and is second on the team with 20 blocked shots. Sophomore F Chris Washburn leads TCU with 29 blocked shots to complement his 6.8 scoring and 5.7 rebounding averages. His 19 steals are second-best on the team. Sophomore C Karviar Shepherd rounds out the TCU starters. He scores 6.7 points per game and is second on the team with 6.2 rebounds per contest.
 
Senior F Amric Fields leads TCU in field goal percentage at 60.0 percent. He scores 7.1 points per game. Sophomore F Brandon Parrish has started 16 of 19 games this season, scores 5.9 points per game and is second on the team with 14 three-pointers made. Junior G Charles Hill, Jr., made his first Big 12 appearance at West Virginia (1/24). It was impactful as he scored 13 points and pulled down five rebounds. Other TCU regulars include freshman G Chauncey Collins (3.9 ppg), sophomore G Hudson Price (3.6 ppg) and junior F Devonta Abron (3.4 ppg).
 
The Kansas-TCU Series
Though this is just the fifth conference meeting between Kansas and TCU, the men’s basketball series between the two schools dates back to 1952 when the Jayhawks defeated the Horned Frogs, 68-64, on March 21 in the NCAA Midwest Regional at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. Kansas is 7-1 against TCU with two games on neutral floors: the 1952 contest and a KU 94-78 win vs. TCU on Dec. 20, 1997, at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri. KU swept a home-and-home series with TCU in 2003 and 2004 with an 85-66 win in Fort Worth on Dec. 1, 2003 and a 93-74 victory on Dec. 9, 2004 in Allen Fieldhouse. Kansas head coach Bill Self is 11-4 all-time against TCU, including 5-1 while at Kansas. TCU head coach Trent Johnson is 2-3 against Kansas, 1-3 while at TCU. In Self’s first season at Kansas, Johnson’s Stanford team defeated KU, 64-58, on Dec. 6, 2003 in Anaheim, California, in the Wooden Classic.
 
What’s Trending

  • The NCAA is listing statistics and Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) on a regular basis. Through games as of Jan. 25, Kansas is No. 1 nationally in the RPI.
  • Including each of the last five games, Kansas has outrebounded 15 of 19 opponents this season with a 14-1 record in those contests. Seven of those games have been by double figures. Included are two of the last four games.
  • Kansas leads the Big 12 in three-point field goal percentage at 39.4 percent. The Jayhawks also rank in the upper half of the conference in scoring offense (fourth at 72.4), free throw percentage (fourth at 71.5), rebounding (tied for third at 39.1), rebounding defense (fourth at 32.3), rebound margin (third at +6.8), blocked shots (fifth at 4.8), steals (fifth at 6.7), assist-to-turnover ratio (fourth at 1.2) and three-point field goals made (tied for fourth at 6.6).
  • Kansas made 10 three-pointers against Oklahoma (1/19) and has averaged 8.3 threes in its last three games. The Jayhawks have made 10 or more threes four times this season.
  • Kansas is 12-0 when leading at the half in 2014-15, including four Big 12 contests.
  • KU has averaged 16.6 assists in its last eight games. The Jayhawks average 14.2 assists per game in 2014-15.
  • In the last two games, KU’s bench has outscored the opponent’s bench 62-15 (31-7 vs. Oklahoma and 31-8 at Texas).
  • Sophomore G Brannen Greene is 9-for-13 (69.2 percent) from the field, including 7-for-9 (77.8 percent) from three-point range, in his last two games averaging 13.0 points. For the season Greene is scoring 5.7 points per contest. Greene has five games of 10 or more points this season with three of those against Big 12 teams.
  • Sophomore G Frank Mason III scored 12 points at Texas (1/24) with four assists and no turnovers. He has scored in double figures in each of KU’s last 16 contests, which is tops on the KU team.
  • Freshman G Kelly Oubre, Jr., has started the last 10 games, 11 games total, for Kansas this season. In his last 10 starts, Oubre has averaged 13.2 points and 7.1 rebounds while shooting 47.4 percent from the field. He also has two double-doubles in that span. Oubre has scored in double figures in four of his last five contests.
  • The Jayhawks are 5-0 when Oubre connects on two or more three-pointers this season.
  • Junior F Perry Ellis has averaged 16.3 points and 8.0 rebounds in his last three games, which included his fourth double-double of the season with 19 points and 11 rebounds at Iowa State (1/17). He just missed a double-double with 16 points and eight boards versus Oklahoma (1/19). He has scored in double figures in three straight and six of his last eight games.
  • After his 15 points and nine rebounds at Texas (1/24), freshman F Cliff Alexander is 23-for-35 (65.7 percent) from the field in Big 12 play with nine blocked shots. He posted his second-career double-double, tallying 13 points and 13 rebounds in 23 minutes of action, against OU (1/19).
  • Since returning from an injury suffered against Georgetown on Dec. 10, 2014, freshman G Devonte’ Graham has recorded 20 assists and just one turnover in 92 combined minutes of play (over the last six games). Graham has multiple steals in two of his last three games, including two at Texas (1/24).
  • Sophomore G Wayne Selden Jr., has made multiple threes in two of his last three games, including a 2-for-3 effort at Texas (1/24) in scoring eight points. His 12 points at Iowa State (1/17) were his most in Big 12 play this season and the most since scoring 16 points versus UNLV (1/4).
  • Six Big 12 teams are ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 (Jan. 26) which is more than any other conference. Nine of the 10 Big 12 teams have been ranked at one point during the 2014-15 season.
  • At 104-22 (82.5 percent), the Big 12 is the only league nationally to have an 80 percent or better winning percentage against non-conference foes.

In the Polls
In the Jan. 26 national polls, Kansas men’s basketball is ranked No. 9 in the Associated Press and No. 11 in the USA Today Coaches’ polls. The Jayhawks have been ranked in each of the last 116 Associated Press polls dating back to the 2008-09 season, including in the top five 50 times. In the coaches’ poll, the Jayhawks have been ranked in each of the past 122 polls and in the top five on 54 occasions.
 
Versus Ranked Teams
With its 75-62 win against No. 17 Texas on Jan. 24, Kansas is 60-31 against Associated Press-ranked teams, including 6-2 in 2014-15, under head coach Bill Self. In each of the last five seasons, the Jayhawks have a winning record versus ranked foes, including a 7-3 mark in 2013-14. Since the 2009-10 season, KU is 38-14 against AP ranked teams.
 
Up Next
Kansas will continue it stretch of three games in six days when the Jayhawks will return to Allen Fieldhouse for two contests. On Saturday, Jan. 31, the Jayhawks will host Kansas State at 1 p.m., on ESPN, and on Feb. 2 Iowa State comes to Lawrence for ESPN Big Monday at 8 p.m.
 
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