December 20, 2015

Jayhawks Hit Road to San Diego State

G11: No. 2/5 Kansas at San Diego State
Date/Time	Dec. 22, 2015/10 p.m. (Central)
Location	San Diego, California
Arena	Viejas Arena (12,414)
Series	San Diego State leads 2-1
Television	CBS Sports Network Carter Blackburn, Steve Lappas, Jamie Erdahl
Radio	Jayhawk Radio Network Bob Davis (Play-by-Play) Josh Klingler (Analyst) Bob Newton (Engineer)
Live Stats	SDSU live stats
Notes	Kansas San Diego State Big 12 Conference

Stats at a Glance	Kansas	SDSU
Record	9-1	4-5
Rankings	#2/3	—
Points/GM	89.8	65.7
Points Allowed/GM	66.1	59.3
FG%	.526	.417
Rebounds/GM	38.3	38.5
Assists/GM	19.2	9.8
Blocks/GM	4.3	6.3
Steals/GM	8.4	5.1

Jayhawks Hit Road to San Diego State
No. 2/3 Kansas (9-1) plays its first true road game of the 2015-16 season when it travels to San Diego to take on San Diego State (7-5), Tuesday, Dec. 22, at 10 p.m. (Central). The contest from Steve Fisher Court at Viejas Arena will be televised on CBS Sports Network. Kansas takes an eight-game winning streak into the SDSU contest after defeating Montana, 88-46, on Dec. 19. San Diego State is looking to rebound from a 52-45 home loss to Grand Canyon on Dec. 18.

This may be KU’s first true road game, but the Jayhawks are 4-1 away from Allen Fieldhouse this season. KU lost to current-No. 1 Michigan State, 79-73, on Nov. 17 in the Champions Classic. The Jayhawks went 3-0 in winning the Maui Jim Maui Invitational, Nov. 23-25, and defeated Oregon State, 82-67, in the Jayhawk Shootout at Sprint Center in Kansas City on Dec. 12. The contest is considered a home game for KU since it is part of the Kansas home ticket package.

About Kansas
Kansas is 9-1 on the season after defeating Montana, 88-46, on Dec. 19. KU’s high-octane offense is one of the best in the nation, as the Jayhawks rank third in NCAA Division I in scoring at 89.8 points per game. Kansas is third in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage at 46.7 percent. KU is also fifth nationally in scoring margin at +23.7 and fifth in field goal percentage at 52.6 percent. KU pulls down an average of 38.3 rebounds per game, which helps give the Jayhawks a +6.9 rebounding margin advantage over their opponents. The Jayhawks also average 19.2 assists, which stands 10th nationally, 8.4 steals and 4.3 blocked shots per contest.

Junior G Wayne Selden Jr. leads Kansas in scoring at 16.0 points per game. The Nov. 30 co-Big 12 Player of the Week selection, Selden leads the Big 12 in 3-point field goal percentage at 55.6 percent, which is fifth nationally. He is fourth in the league in scoring. Senior F Perry Ellis is second on the KU team in scoring at 14.7 points per game, which is ninth in the Big 12. Ellis leads KU with 6.2 rebounds per contest, which is 10th in the league. Junior G Frank Mason III is coming off a nine-assist, zero turnover game against Montana (12/19). He scores 13.4 points per contest and averages 4.1 rebounds per game. Mason’s 18 steals are second on the team and he is second in the league, seventh nationally, with a 4.5 assist-to-turnover ratio. Sophomore G Devonte’ Graham is third in the Big 12, 10th in NCAA Division I, with a 4.4 assist-to-turnover ratio. He leads KU and is tied for fifth in the Big 12 with 2.0 steals per game and his 3.5 assists per contest are tied for 11th the league. Graham scores 1023 points per game. Senior F Hunter Mickelson (3.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg, team-high 13 blocked shots) rounds out the KU starters.

Junior G Brannen Greene is a 3-point specialist who scores 9.8 points per game after his 11-point effort against Montana (12/19). He is 11-for-14 (78.6 percent) from beyond the arc this season. Senior F Jamari Traylor (3.6 ppg, 4.1 rpg) has started seven games this season. Junior F Landen Lucas scores 5.4 points per game and is second on the team with a 5.4 rebound average. Sophomore G Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk is second on the team with 15 3-pointers made this season, helping him average 8.3 points per game. Freshman F Cheick Diallo scores an average of 7.0 points a contest, grabs 3.4 rebounds and has already swatted away seven shots in five games. Other key contributors to the Kansas squad include freshman F Carlton Bragg Jr. (5.3 ppg, 3.3 rpg) and freshman G Lagerald Vick (2.3 ppg).

About San Diego State
Located in San Diego, California, with an enrollment of 32,576, San Diego State is 7-5 on the season after its 52-45 loss to Grand Canyon on Dec. 18. The Aztecs are coached by Steve Fisher who is 346-190 in his 17th season at SDSU and 530-272 in his 25th season overall. Fisher and KU head coach Bill Self are one of 11 active head coaches to win an NCAA National Championship with Fisher while at Michigan in 1989 and Self at Kansas in 2008. The preseason pick to win the 2016 Mountain West Conference, San Diego State ranks sixth nationally in field goal percentage defense at 35.5 percent. The Aztecs score 65.7 points and give up 59.3, which is 11th in NCAA Division I. SDSU force 13.1 turnovers per game and average 6.3 blocked shots and 5.1 steals per outing.

Freshman G Jeremy Hemsley leads San Diego State with a 13.4 scoring average and in assists with 29. His 13 3-pointers are tied for second most on the team. SDSU’s next four scorers average between 8.8 and 7.8 points per game with senior F Winston Shepard at 8.8 ppg, redshirt freshman F Zylan Cheatham at 8.5 ppg, junior G Dakarai Allen at 8.3 ppg and sophomore G Trey Kell at 7.8 ppg. Cheatham leads the team with a 6.2 rebound average, while Allen has 11 blocked shots and a team-high 11 steals. Kell has made a team-best 15 3-pointers which is just ahead of Hemsley and Allen’s 13 each. Shepard is second on the team with a 5.3 rebound average. Other key contributors for SDSU include sophomore F Malik Pope (5.4 ppg, 4.1 rpg), senior F Angelo Chol (4.2 ppg, 4.0 rpg), senior F Skylar Spencer (4.1 ppg, 4.6 rpg, team-high 25 blocked shots), freshman G Ben Perez (4.6 ppg, 12 3-pointers made) and junior G D’Erryl Williams (2.0 ppg).

The Series
San Diego State leads the series 2-1 which began with an SDSU 81-69 win versus Kansas in San Diego on Dec. 23, 1979. The following season, KU defeated SDSU, 79-66, in Allen Fieldhouse on Dec. 8, 1979. San Diego State joined rare company when it defeated Kansas, 61-57, in Allen Fieldhouse on Jan. 5, 2014. Under KU head coach Bill Self, the Jayhawks are 195-9 in Allen Fieldhouse with only four losses to non-conference foes – Richmond in 2003-04, Nevada in 2005-06, Oral Roberts in 2006-07 and San Diego State in 2013-14. Kansas is 25-8 against current membership of the Mountain West Conference.

Montana Leftovers

Kansas Athletics set the GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS title for the “Largest gathering of people wearing holiday sweaters.” The record was broken with 3,473 fans dressed in holiday sweaters. The former record was 1,175 people and was set December 10, 2014 at Loughborough University in Loughborough, United Kingdom.
Montana F Fabijan Krslovic scored the game’s first points with a layup at the 19:42 mark in the first half. That marked the first time in 163:57 that the Jayhawks have trailed inside Allen Fieldhouse. Kansas last found itself behind on its home floor on March 3, 2015, against West Virginia with 3:39 remaining in overtime.
Kansas’ 42-point margin of victory was its second largest of the season and the largest at home. KU defeated Chaminade 123-72 (51 points) in the opening bracket play at the Maui Jim Maui Invitational on Nov. 23 in Lahiana, Hawaii.
The Jayhawks held an opponent under 50 points for the first time this season.
Kansas outrebounded Montana by a margin of 18, its second-largest margin of year (25 vs. Chaminade).
Out of its nine victories of the season, Kansas has won by 15 or more points in seven of those wins. Five of those wins have been by 30 points or more.
The Kansas bench scored 48 points, surpassing the 40-point mark for the fifth time this season. The KU bench is now averaging 32.1 points per game in 2015-16, compared to 22.5 by its opponents.
The Jayhawks hit 43.8 percent (7-of-16) of their 3-point attempts, marking the eighth-straight game Kansas has shot 40 percent or better from behind the 3-point arc. KU has also now made seven or more 3-pointers in eight of 10 games this season.
Senior F Perry Ellis scored a game-high 18 points and was a perfect 10-for-10 from the free-throw line. It marked the fourth time in Ellis’ career that he was perfect from the charity stripe when he’s had a minimum of five attempts.
Ellis also added nine rebounds, the seventh time this year he has pulled down six or more boards.
Junior G Brannen Greene was 3-of-4 from beyond the arc and has now missed just three 3-point attempts on the year (11-of-14).
Junior G Frank Mason III tied a career-high with nine assists and had no turnovers. He now boasts an assist-to-turnover ratio of 4.5 on the year, including a mark of 6.7 over his last three outings.
Junior G Wayne Selden Jr., failed to make a 3-pointer (0-of-4) for the first time this season. Selden had made at least two threes in each of the Jayhawks’ first nine outings.
Sophomore G Svi Mykhailiuk scored in double figures for the fourth time this season and connected on multiple 3-pointers (2-of-4) for the second time in 2015-16.

Kansas Notables
Kansas leads the Big 12 in scoring offense (89.8) and field goal percentage (.526). The Jayhawks also rank in the upper half in the league in scoring margin (second at +23.7), 3-point field goal percentage (second at 46.7), 3-point field goals made (second at 9.1). rebounding defense (third at 31.4), assists (second at 19.2), turnover margin (second at +4.4), steals (third at 8.4) and assist-to-turnover ratio (second at 1.6).
Kansas has outshot nine of 10 opponents this season. The Jayhawks have also outrebounded eight of 10 foes.
Out of its nine victories of the season, Kansas has won by 10 or more points in seven of those wins.
In the second halves of their last three outings, the Jayhawks have combined to shoot 62.8 percent (54-of-86) from the field.
The Jayhawks have now outrebounded eight of 10 foes this season.
The KU bench is averaging 31.2 points per game in 2015-16, compared to 22.3 by its opponents. KU’s bench has outscored its opponents’ bench in six of 10 games this season.
KU has made eight or more 3-pointers in six of 10 games this season. KU has made 10 or more 3-pointers four times, including 15 threes vs. Northern Colorado (11/13) and Chaminade (11/23), which were one off the school record.
Junior G Wayne Selden Jr. is tied for the Big 12 lead in 3-point field goals made per game at 3.1 and is tops in 3-point field goal percentage at 55.6 percent. He has made three or more 3-pointers in seven games this season.
Selden has shot 50 percent or higher from beyond the arc eight times this season.
In the last five games, sophomore G Devonte’ Graham has a 17-3 assist-to-turnover ratio, while junior G Frank Mason III has a 30-7 assist-to-turnover ratio for a combined 7.8 assist-to-turnover ratio. Additionally, the two have 21 steals in the last five games – Mason 11 and Graham 10.
Mason has led KU in assists in each of the last eight games and nine of 10 games this season.
Senior F Perry Ellis has just missed back-to-back double-doubles with 13 points and nine rebounds against Oregon State (12/12) and 18 points and nine boards versus Montana (12/19). Ellis has shot 50 percent or better in seven games this season. He has two 20-point efforts this season and 15 for his career.
Sophomore G Svi Mykhailiuk has made at least one 3-pointer in eight of 10 games and multiple threes in three contests. His six threes versus Chaminade (11/23) were a career high.
Senior F Hunter Mickelson has as least one blocked shot in four of his last five games.
Freshman F Carlton Bragg Jr. is 8-for-12 (66.7 percent) from the field in his last two games.

UP NEXT
Kansas will come back home for its final game of the 2015 calendar year, as the Jayhawks host UC Irvine on Dec. 29 at 8 p.m. (Central), on ESPNU. KU, 11-time defending Big 12 regular-season champion, will then open conference play when it hosts Baylor on Saturday, Jan. 2 at 3 p.m., on CBS. KU will then have a quick turnaround when it hosts current No. 3 Oklahoma on Jan. 4, at 8 p.m. in its first of four ESPN Big Monday contests for 2015-16.
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