KU Men's Basketball Takes 10-0 Record to Georgia Tech on Tuesday

Dec. 16, 2007

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No. 3 Kansas is 10-0 for the 11th time in school history as it travels to Georgia Tech (4-4) on Tuesday. KU is coming off an 88-51 win against Ohio in the Kansas City Shootout presented by careerbuilder.com on Saturday. The game was Kansas’ first at the new Sprint Center. KU will also play at the venue later this season during the Big 12 Championship March 13-16. Georgia Tech has not played since a Dec. 5 victory at Georgia State. That victory snapped a two-game losing skid for the Yellowjackets.

About Kansas

Kansas is using a balanced attack and solid defense in posting its 10-0 record this season. The Jayhawks are averaging 85 points per game and are giving up only 58.6. KU’s top seven scorers go forward-guard-forward-guard-guard-center-guard. Sophomore forward Darrell Arthur leads KU in scoring with 13.9 points per game. He is second on the team with a 5.7 rebound average and with 16 blocked shots. Junior guard Mario Chalmers is next in scoring at 12.8 points per game and he leads the team with 52 assists, 32 steals, 19 three-pointers made and a 46.3 three-point field goal percentage. Senior forward Darnell Jackson paces the Jayhawks with seven rebounds per game to compliment his 11.2 points. Jackson is shooting 64.3 percent from the field. Sophomore Sherron Collins and junior Brandon Rush are each scoring 11 points per game. The duo have missed games due to injury but have worked their way back into the lineup. Rush is second on the team with 15 three-pointers. Senior center Sasha Kaun leads KU with 18 blocked shots this season to go along with his 8.3 points and 4.4 rebounds per game. Senior guard Russell Robinson is scoring seven points per outing and is making a team-best 76 percent from the free throw line.

About Georgia Tech

Georgia Tech is 4-4 on the season and KU will be just the second home game of the year for the Yellowjackets. Georgia Tech averages 78.5 points to its opponents’ 79.4. Senior guard Anthony Morrow leads the team with 16.4 points per game and 20 three-pointers. Junior guard Lewis Clinch is next in scoring with 13.8 points and he has 20 assists in eight games. Sophomore forward Zack Peacock has seen action in three games and is scoring 12 points per contest. Junior forward/center Alade Aminu has a 10.1 scoring average, while senior forward Jeremis Smith leads the team with a 7.1 rebound average and 13 steals to compliment his 10 points per contest. Senior guard Matt Causey (5.1 ppg) leads Georgia Tech with 34 assists. Junior guard D’Andre Bell is scoring 4.9 points with four starts in eight games. Freshman forward Gani Lawal (6.9 ppg) and sophomore forward Mouhammad Faye (2.2 ppg) average 11-plus minutes per contest. Senior forward/center Ra’Sean Dickey will make his season debut against Kansas, as he was academically ineligible for the fall semester. Dickey has seven career double-doubles, including five last season. Dickey averaged 8.1 points and 5.3 rebounds last year and 13.2 points and 6.8 boards as a sophomore.

The Series

This is the sixth meeting between Kansas and Georgia Tech with KU leading 4-1. The series dates back to 1971 as the Jayhawks defeated Tech in the first three meetings – 84-71 in 1971 in Atlanta, 93-65 in 1972 in Lawrence and 84-70 in 1999 in Anchorage, Alaska, in the Great Alaska Shootout. The two teams met in back-to-back seasons in 2004 and 2005. The 2004 match-up was in the NCAA Regional finals, where Georgia Tech won 79-71 in overtime. On New Year’s Day 2005, the two battled to another overtime thriller with KU defeating Georgia Tech 70-68 in Allen Fieldhouse. Kansas has faced 10 of the 12 current members of the Atlantic Coast Conference and has a combined 31-21 record versus the league. The Jayhawks have yet to play ACC members Clemson and Virginia Tech (KU’s opponent in the upcoming FedEx Orange Bowl). KU will play at ACC member Boston College on Jan. 5.

Up Next

Kansas returns home to face Miami (Ohio) on Saturday, Dec. 22 at noon in Allen Fieldhouse. The game will be televised on Jayhawk TV. KU will then host its annual holiday clinic on Thursday, Dec. 27, as it prepares for Yale to visit Allen Fieldhouse Saturday, Dec. 29 at 7 p.m. For information on the holiday clinic, go to kuathletics.com or contact the men’s basketball office at 785.864.3056.