Kansas Men's Hoops to Host Colorado Wednesday for Senior Night

Feb. 28, 2006

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It’s “Senior Night” for Kansas’ Jeff Hawkins, Christian Moody, Moulaye Niang and Stephen Vinson and tradition is on the side of the Jayhawks as they have won 22 straight final home games dating back to the 1983 season. KU (20-7, 11-3 Big 12) is looking to bounce back from an 80-55 loss at No. 7 Texas Saturday. Colorado (18-7, 8-6) snapped a two-game losing skid with a 78-60 win against Missouri Saturday in Boulder.

AT&T Jayhawk All-Access will carry the Senior Night pre-game festivities, including the Flower Shower, a special halftime tribute to radio broadcaster Max Falkenstein and the post-game senior speeches in their entirety. Access to these events are exclusive to Jayhawk All-Access. Click here for more information.

Max’s Finale
Tonight marks the final home game for University of Kansas broadcasting legend Max Falkenstien. His retirement at season’s end will conclude 60 years of working KU games. Max has called more than 1,750 men’s basketball games and 650 football games for Kansas Athletics. In 2004, Max was given the prestigious Curt Gowdy Award presented by the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. The College Football Hall of Fame has also honored him. In 2001, The Sporting News named Max “the best college radio personality in the country.”

About Kansas
Kansas has won six straight home games and is 13-2 in Allen Fieldhouse this season. KU is scoring 75.7 points per game and giving up 61 per outing. Kansas leads the nation in field goal percentage defense, at 36.8 percent. The Jayhawks also lead the Big 12 in assists at 18.11 per contest. All season, Brandon Rush has led the Big 12 freshman class in scoring. His 13.7 points per game rank 16th overall in the league. Rush is also sixth in the league in field goal percentage at 50 percent and 12th in rebound average at six per contest. He is shooting a team-best 50.7 percent from three-point range. Freshman Mario Chalmers leads the Big 12 in steals at 2.7 per contest to go along with his 10.7 scoring average. Chalmers is eighth in the conference in assists at 3.89 per game. Sophomore Russell Robinson took over the team assist lead with his eight at Texas Saturday. Robinson is scoring 8.7 points per game and his 4.11 assists average is sixth in the Big 12. Phillips 66 Big 12 Rookie of the Week Julian Wright is averaging 19.5 points in his last two games and is shooting 81.8 percent from the field in that span. His scoring average is up to 8.7 per game.

About Colorado
After falling to Kansas on Jan. 11, Colorado rattled off five straight wins and currently tied for fourth with Texas A&M in the Big 12 race entering the final week of league play. The Buffs average a Big 12-high 79.5 points per game and give up 69 per contest. CU leads the league in three-point field goals made at 8.6 per game and in offensive rebounds at 15.64. Sophomore Richard Roby leads the team in scoring at 17.8 points per game which is fifth in the Big 12. Roby also leads the team in rebounds with a 5.6 average. His 2.32 steals per game are third in the conference. Junior Marcus Hall leads the Big 12 in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.28 and his 4.28 assists per game are fifth in the league. Hall is scoring 9.4 points per game. Senior Chris Copeland is second on the team in scoring at 12.3 points per game.

The Series
This series dates back to 1931 and Kansas leads, 110-39, including a 55-7 record in Lawrence and 46-5 mark in Allen Fieldhouse. Kansas has won six straight and 33 of the last 34 meetings with CU dating back to 1991. The last Colorado win in the series was 60-59 on Jan. 22, 2003 in Boulder. The previous CU win was 79-71 on Feb. 20, 1991, also in Boulder. Kansas has won 22 straight against Colorado in Allen Fieldhouse. Colorado’s last win in the Fieldhouse was a 75-74 decision on Feb. 10, 1983. The first two games of the series — Jan. 2 and Jan. 3, 1931 — were played in Denver, Colo. Earlier this season, Kansas opened Big 12 play with a 75-63 win against Colorado in Boulder on Jan. 11. Senior Christian Moody led KU with a career-high 18 points against CU, while freshman Brandon Rush added 17.

Up Next
Kansas will conclude the regular season at Kansas State on Saturday, March 4 at 3 p.m. The Jayhawks have not lost in Manhattan since 1983. KU will then play Friday, March 10 in the quarterfinals of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.