Jayhawks to Meet Cyclones in Ames Wednesday in Men's Hoops

Feb. 25, 2008

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Kansas (24-3, 9-3 Big 12) looks to rebound from a one-point road loss when it travels to Iowa State Wednesday, Feb. 27, at 6 p.m. (Central) on ESPN. KU’s comeback fell short 61-60 at Oklahoma State Saturday. The Jayhawks will be playing three games in six days starting in Ames. Iowa State (14-13, 4-8) is coming off a 76-64 road loss at Texas Tech Saturday. The Cyclones have lost five of their last six games.

About Kansas

Kansas’ 9-3 record has given the Jayhawks a winning league record in each of the last 19 seasons. Kansas is the only team in the Big 12 to have posted a winning conference mark every season the conference has existed. The Jayhawks average 81.6 points and lead the nation in scoring margin at +20.4. Sophomore forward Darrell Arthur leads KU in scoring with 13.5 points per game. He is second on the team with 5.8 rebounds per contest and leads KU with 42 blocked shots. A trio of Jayhawks average between 12.1 and 12.5 points per contest, led by senior forward Darnell Jackson at 12.5 ppg. Jackson leads KU in rebounding at 6.8 per contest, which is eighth in the Big 12. Junior guards Brandon Rush and Mario Chalmers are each scoring 12.1 points per game. Rush has made a team-best 47 three-pointers, while Chalmers is next with 42. Chalmers leads the Big 12 in steals at 2.38 per game and assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.74. Sophomore guard Sherron Collins is scoring 8.7 points off the bench, while seniors Sahsa Kaun and Russell Robinson are scoring 7.3 points apiece per outing. Robinson, Arthur, Rush, Jackson and Chalmers are the KU starters. Senior guard Rodrick Stewart (3.1 ppg) and freshman center Cole Aldrich (3.0 ppg) round out the Kansas regulars.

About Iowa State

Iowa State is celebrating its 100th year of men’s basketball this season. The Cyclones are coming off a 76-64 loss at Texas Tech Saturday. ISU is 12-4 at home this season, including 4-2 against Big 12 foes. Senior center Jiri Hubalek leads the team in scoring at 13.2 points per game and rebounding with a 7.4 average. Sophomore forward Wesley Johnson is next in scoring at 12.5 points per game. He is second on the team with 36 three-pointers made, one behind junior guard Bryan Petersen’s 37. Petersen is the starting point guard who also leads the team with 82 assists to complement his 5.5 scoring average. Petersen’s 24 steals are tied for the team high with freshman guard Diante Garrett (5.9 ppg). Freshman forward Craig Brackins averages 10.9 points and 4.8 rebounds per contest. He has 27 blocked shots. Senior forward Rahshon Clark paces the Cyclones with 30 blocked shots go along with his 8.9 points and 6.1 rebounds per contest. Junior forward Alex Thompson (2.4 ppg, 15 blocked shots) and junior guard Sean Haluska (3.1 ppg) round out the ISU regulars.

The Series

Dating back to 1908, Kansas leads the all-time series with Iowa State, 162-58, yet recent history shows the KU-ISU clashes to be much more competitive. Prior to KU sweeping the last two season series, each team won seven games against the other from 1999-2005. Five of the last nine meetings have been decided by seven points or less with three of those going into overtime. Including season sweeps, the visiting team has claimed at least one victory eight times in the last eight seasons – dating back to 2000. KU is 62-39 against Iowa State in games played in Ames, yet the series is tied at 18 in Hilton Coliseum. Last year, KU came from behind to edge ISU 68-64 in overtime in Ames. KU holds a 16-7 edge against Iowa State in Big 12 league play and an 18-7 mark since the inception of the conference. KU senior Darnell Jackson recorded 21 points and 11 rebounds to lead Kansas to an 83-59 win against Iowa State on Jan. 23, 2008, in Allen Fieldhouse. Five KU players reached double figures with Darrell Arthur (16 points), Russell Robinson (11), Brandon Rush (11) and Mario Chalmers (10) joining Jackson. KU led by 10 at half – 42-32 – and held Iowa State to 27 points in the second stanza. Wesley Johnson paced ISU with 21 points.

Team Notables

–The combined record of the Kansas men’s basketball and football teams is 36-4 (90 winning percentage) in 2007-08, including 25-0 at home.

–Kansas is 72-10 (87.8 percent) in its last 82 games. The Jayhawks are 24-3 on the season and have won 38 of their last 42 and 41 of their last 46 contests.

–Kansas’ three losses have been by a combined 13 points – 9 at Kansas State, 3 at Texas and 1 at Oklahoma State.

–Kansas is 18-0 at home this season, including the Ohio contest at the Sprint Center, and has won 22 straight home games. The 22-game streak ranks fifth nationally.

–Kansas has won nine of its last 12 Big 12 road games and is 11-4 in its last 15 league road contests.

–Kansas was 16-for-19 from the free throw line at Oklahoma State to mark the seventh time this season it has shot 80 percent or better from the line. Six of those have come against Big 12 competition. Over the last seven games, KU has made 133-of-164, good for 81.1 percent.

–Kansas’ bigs score 44.8 percent of KU’s points, while its guards score 55.2 percent. KU’s scoring list goes – big, big, guard, guard, guard, big, guard, guard, big.

–KU has shot better than 50 percent in 18 of 27 contests this season. Last year, KU shot better than 50 percent in 18 of 38 contests.

–KU has outshot 26 of 27 opponents this season – USC (Dec. 2) shot better than KU.

–Kansas is one of the national leaders in scoring margin at +20.4. Besides scoring margin, Kansas leads the Big 12 field goal percentage (50.5), rebound defense (31.4), assists (18.59), blocked shots (6.37), steals (9.15) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.42).

–The Jayhawks have held 26 of 27 opponents to under 50 percent shooting and 98 of its last 101 opponents.

–Through 27 games, Kansas has had seven different leading scorers, six different players lead the team in rebounding, five different in assists, eight different in steals and seven different in blocked shots (these includes ties). KU has had four different leading scorers in its last five games – Jackson, Chalmers, Arthur, Arthur and Rush. Rebounding-wise, KU has had four different rebounders in each of the last four games – Jackson, Rush, Kaun and Arthur.

–Five Jayhawks have scored 20-plus points this season – Collins, Jackson, Chalmers, Arthur and Robinson.

–On the season, the Jayhawk bench has outscored its opponents 684-464 for a 25.3 to 17.2 (+8.1) advantage per game.

–Kansas redshirt senior Jeremy Case graduated last spring. KU’s other four seniors – Sasha Kaun, Darnell Jackson, Russell Robinson and Rodrick Stewart – are on pace to graduate this spring.

Player Notables

–Senior Darnell Jackson (#32) is 10-for-13 (76.9 percent) from the field in his last two games. Jackson’s 16 points and 10 rebounds at Oklahoma State marked his second double-double of the season and sixth of his career. He has scored in double figures in his last four games and five of his last six contests. He has reached double digits 18 times this season. Jackson has pulled down eight or more rebounds in seven Big 12 contests and 15 times this season. Jackson is 24-for-28 (85.8 percent) from the free throw line since the second half of the Kansas State game on Jan. 30. Jackson leads the team in rebounding at 6.7 rpg, which is eighth in the Big 12. For his efforts at Boston College (Jan. 5, 25 points, nine rebounds), he was named the co-Big 12 Player of the Week.

–Junior Mario Chalmers (#15) has scored in double figures in each of his last five games. He is 12-for-13 (92.3 percent) from the free throw line in his last three games. His four steals against Baylor (Feb. 9) were his most in Big 12 play and marked the sixth time this season he has had at least four steals. Chalmers leads the Big 12 in steals with 2.38 per game and is vying to lead the league in steals for the third-straight season. He also leads the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.74, is second in assists at 4.85 and 11th in free throw percentage at 75 percent.

–Sophomore Darrell Arthur (#00) scored six points and pulled down two rebounds in only 17 minutes at Oklahoma State, mainly due to foul trouble. Since scoring 23 points against Baylor and 22 at Texas, he has 14 points in his last two games. He has pulled down at least six rebounds in four of his last five games. His 23 points and 10 rebounds against Baylor (Feb. 9) were his third double-double of the season and fifth of his career. He has four 20-point efforts on the season. He has pulled down seven or more rebounds 10 times this year. Arthur is 21-for-26 (80.8 percent) from the free throw line in his last seven games. Arthur has 12 games with multiple blocked shots this season, including five in conference action. Arthur leads KU in scoring at 13.5 ppg, which ranks 11th in the Big 12. Also in the league, he is 13th in rebounding at 5.8, fourth in field goal percentage at 53.3 and fourth in blocked shots a 1.56.

–Junior Brandon Rush (#25) scored all 12 of his points at Oklahoma State in the second half. The 12 were the most for the guard in four games. Rush has pulled down six or more rebounds in seven of his last eight games. In Big 12 play he is scoring 13.6 ppg compared to 12.1 ppg overall and his three-point shooting has also improved in conference play, as he is making 42.6 percent from the beyond the arc through 12 league games and 39.8 on the season. On the boards he is averaging 6.6 in Big 12 play and 5.2 on the year. Rush is 18th in rebounding the Big 12 at 5.2 and eighth in three-pointers made at 1.88.

–Senior Russell Robinson (#3) scored nine points and was 3-for-3 from the free throw line at Oklahoma State. He is 23-for-26 (88.5 percent) from the line in his last seven games. He has dished out five or more assists nine times this season. In his last eight contests, Robinson has 25 assists and 10 turnovers. He scored a season-high 22 points against Baylor (Feb. 9). He has scored in double figures in Big 12 play three times in 2008. He has at least one steal in all but three games this season and multiple steals in 17 contests. His 223 career steals are fifth all-time at KU. Robinson is third in the Big 12 in assists at 4.19, fourth in steals at 2.04 and fourth in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.09.

–Sophomore Sherron Collins (#4) played only 11 minutes with no points on one shot at Oklahoma State, nursing a bruised knee. He pulled down five rebounds to go along with five points against Colorado (Feb. 16). His five boards tied for his second most this season. He has scored in double figures eight times this season, with four of those against Big 12 foes. He has made at least one three-pointer in 14 of 21 games played in and has multiple treys in seven games. Collins missed six games (games 3-8) due to injury.

–Senior Sasha Kaun (#24) was 2-for-3 from the field with four points and five rebounds in 17 minutes at Oklahoma State. His seven boards at Texas (Feb. 11) tied for his second most this season and were his conference season high. He has at least one blocked shot in eight of his last nine games and multiple blocks in 10 contests this season. Kaun is sixth in the Big 12 in blocked shots with 1.30 per game. He is second on the team in field goal percentage at 63 percent. After starting the year 10-for-26 (38.5 percent) from the free throw line, Kaun is 38-for-58 (65.5 percent) in his last 21 games.

–Freshman Cole Aldrich (#45) played nine minutes with two points and three rebounds at Oklahoma State. He had a personal Big 12 high 14 minutes against Colorado (Feb. 16) with six points, four rebounds and three blocked shots. He has pulled down four or more rebounds in 11 games and has multiple blocked shots in nine contests. He is tied for 13th in the Big 12 in blocked shots for a 1.00 average.

–Freshman Tyrel Reed (#14) scored six points on 2-for-3 shooting from three-point range against Colorado (Feb. 16) but did not play at OSU. The six points versus Colorado were his most since an eight-point effort against Yale on Dec. 29. He has multiple threes in five games this season.

ESPN’s College Gameday Returns to Allen Fieldhouse March 1

Students and fans are invited to Allen Fieldhouse Saturday morning, March 1, to watch a live broadcast of ESPN College Gameday. ESPN will broadcast live from Allen Fieldhouse that morning, and ESPN that evening will televise the game between Kansas and Kansas State. The ESPN College Gameday set will be located on the floor of the Fieldhouse; fans will have open seating in the east stands for the morning activities. The event is free to the public and doors will open at 8 a.m. At 9 a.m. ESPN will air a segment from the Fieldhouse for SportsCenter, and will follow that with a live, one-hour show from 10-11 a.m. This marks the third time ESPN College Gameday has originated from Allen Fieldhouse. In its inaugural year, the Gameday crew witnessed Kansas defeat Texas, 90-65, on Jan. 29, 2005. Last year, the Gameday crew saw Texas A&M edge Kansas 69-66.

Up Next

Kansas returns home Saturday, March 1, when it hosts Kansas State at 8 p.m. on ESPN. For the third time, ESPN Gameday will originate from Allen Fieldhouse that day. Kansas concludes it home schedule by hosting Texas Tech on ESPN’s Big Monday on March 3 at 8 p.m. The game will mark the final contest for KU’s five seniors – Jeremy Case, Darnell Jackson, Sasha Kaun, Russell Robinson and Rodrick Stewart.