๐Ÿ€ Jayhawks Host Miners on Tuesday in Kansas City

LAWRENCE, Kan. โ€”ย No. 8/7 Kansas (6-1) will host UTEP (4-3) in the Jayhawk Shootout, Dec. 7, at 7 p.m. (Central) at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri. The game will be televised on Big 12 NOW on ESPN+.

Kansas is coming off a 95-75 win at St. Johnโ€™s on Dec. 3 in the Big East/Big 12 Battle. The game was the first basketball game played at UBS Arena in Elmont, N.Y. UTEP is looking to rebound from a 72-69 loss to New Mexico State on Dec. 3.

The Kansas-UTEP series dates back to 1966 with the Miners leading 3-2. The first meeting was an epic 81-80 overtime win for UTEP, then known as Texas Western, in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in Lubbock, Texas. Texas Western went on to win the 1966 NCAA title. KU has won the last two matchups with UTEP, 67-63, on Nov. 30, 2013, in the third-place game of the Battle 4 Atlantis and 69-64 in a last-minute game on March 4, 2021, in Allen Fieldhouse.

Kansas is No. 14 in the first NET released by the NCAA for 2021-22 through games played Dec. 5. Kansas is second among Big 12 teams with Baylor at No. 6. Kansas leads the Big 12 in scoring offense (85.4 ppg), which is 12th nationally, field goal percentage (51.5%, sixth nationally) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.6, 11th nationally).

Senior Ochai Agbaji leads the Big 12 and is third nationally in scoring at 22.6 points per game. Agbaji has scored 20 or more points in five of seven games this season. Kansas has two players ranked in the top three in the Big 12 in scoring with Agbaji first at 22.6 and junior Christian Braun third at 16.3 ppg. Braun is coming off a career-high 31 points at St. Johnโ€™s on Dec. 3. He was named the Big 12 Player of the Week on Dec. 6.

Kansas returns to Allen Fieldhouse when it plays Missouri in the HyVee Hoops Border Showdown, on Saturday, Dec. 11, at 2:15 p.m. (Central) on ESPN.