Jayhawks to Play at DePaul Saturday in Men's Basketball
Nov. 30, 2006
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No. 5 Kansas (6-1) takes a five-game winning streak to the windy city to face DePaul (2-4) Saturday at 1 p.m. (Central). The game will be played at Allstate Arena in Chicago and televised on ESPNU. The Jayhawks are coming off an 83-32 win against Dartmouth Tuesday, which followed the Las Vegas Invitational title run. In the run, KU defeated then-No. 1 Florida 82-80 in overtime. DePaul has lost two of its last three games at the EA Sports Maui Invitational. KU will be the Blue Demons’ first game since returning from the islands.
About Kansas
Fresh off its overtime victory against then-No. 1 Florida to win the Las Vegas Invitational, Kansas is riding a five-game winning streak after its 83-32 win against Dartmouth on Tuesday. KU (6-1) is scoring 81 points per game and giving up 58.3 for a plus-22.7 scoring margin. The Jayhawks are led by freshman Darrell Arthur who is scoring 15.9 points per game. The forward is second on the team in rebound average at 6.6 and leads KU with 17 blocked shots this season. Preseason All-American Brandon Rush is next in scoring at 13.6 points per game. The sophomore is tied for the team lead with 11 three-pointers and is pulling down six rebounds per outing. Forward Julian Wright paces KU with a 9.1 rebound average to go along with his 12.9 points per game. Wright was named the ESPN.com and Big 12 Player of the Week for his 21-point and 10-rebound effort against Florida. Sophomore Mario Chalmers leads the team with 14 steals and he is averaging 10.1 points per contest. Junior Russell Robinson rounds out the starters, scoring 7.1 points per game to go along with his team-high 37 assists. KU’s top reserves include junior forward Darnell Jackson (8.4 points, 6.3 rebounds), freshman guard Sherron Collins (7.6 points, 10-of-22 three pointers) and junior center Sasha Kaun (2.8 points, 2.0 rebounds).
About DePaul
Today will mark only the second home game for DePaul as the Blue Demons defeated Eastern Illinois 71-41 on Nov. 17. The Blue Demons (2-4) return home after going 1-2 at the EA Sports Maui Invitational in which they lost to Kentucky (87-81) and Purdue (81-73) and defeated Chaminade (93-74). Sophomore forward Wilson Chandler leads the team in scoring and rebounding with a 15-point and 6.3 rebound averages. Chandler also paces the team with 11 three-point field goals and nine blocked shots. Senior guard Sammy Mejia is scoring 13.3 points per game and is second on the team in rebounding with a 5.8 average. Junior guard Draelon Burns leads DePaul with eight steals to go along with his 9.7 scoring average and junior guard Cliff Clinkscales has a team-high 19 assists with only five turnovers this season. DePaul is scoring 69.2 points per game and giving up 68.3. The Blue Demons are also outrebounding opponents 32.8 to 29.8.
The Kansas-DePaul Series
Kansas has won all seven previous meetings with DePaul in a series which dates back to 1942. The last meeting with the two teams was in 2000, a 75-69 Kansas win in Chicago. The two teams actually met twice during the 2000 calendar year as Kansas defeated DePaul 81-77 in overtime in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament on March 17, 2000.
Up Next
Kansas returns home to face Southern California on Monday. The game will air on ESPN2 and tip at 8 p.m. (Central). From there, KU will face Toledo Dec. 9, at Kemper Arena in Kansas City in the American Century Investments Shootout. The KU-TU game will also be televised on ESPN2 with a noon tip.
