🏀 Kansas Headed to Face Texas Tech on Saturday
LAWRENCE, Kan. – On Saturday, Feb. 19, the Kansas Jayhawks return to the Lone Star State for a Big 12 matchup against Texas Tech at United Supermarkets Arena in Lubbock. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. CT and the game will be televised on Big 12 NOW on ESPN+.
Kansas enters the game on a six-game Big 12 win streak, the program’s longest since 1997, and the Jayhawks are tied for third place in the conference with a 9-4 record. With a 74-63 victory over West Virginia on Tuesday evening, the Jayhawks improved to 18-5 on the year while completing a regular-season sweep of the Mountaineers for the first time since WVU joined the Big 12.
Kansas head coach Brandon Schneider was named the WhoopDirt.com National Coach of the Week on Tuesday, Feb. 15. Schneider has already guided the Jayhawks to nine conference victories, which is the program’s most since going 11-5 during the 1999-2000 season. Kansas is receiving votes in this week’s Associated Press and WBCA Coaches Top 25 Polls. The Jayhawks are currently No. 35 in the latest NET rankings and a No. 9 seed in the latest edition of ESPN Women’s Bracketology.
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The Jayhawks have now won six straight conference games, which is the program’s second-longest winning streak since the formation of the Big 12 Conference. KU’s only longer such streak came as the Jayhawks closed out the 1996-97 regular season with seven consecutive victories to clinch the Big 12 Championship.
Zakiyah Franklin led KU with a season-high 25 points against West Virginia on Tuesday, finishing one-point shy of her career-high. Franklin has now scored in double figures in four straight games, while raising her scoring average to 12.1 points per game. She is also 10th in the Big 12 with an average of 4.1 assists per game.
For the second straight game, Taiyanna Jackson blocked five shots in the win over WVU. She now has 70 blocks for the season, which ranks seventh on KU’s single-season blocks list. Jackson is second in the Big 12 in blocks with 3.0 per game for the season, but she’s been even better in conference play, averaging a league-leading 3.7 blocks.
Texas Tech is coming off a win over No. 15 Oklahoma, which improved the Red Raiders to 10-14 on the year and 3-10 in Big 12 play. Tech is 5-6 at home this season, but 1-5 in conference home games. The Red Raiders are led by senior guard Vivian Gray, the second-leading scorer in the Big 12 averaging 21.6 points per game. Gray scored 32 points against KU in Lawrence, the most points an opposing player has scored against the Jayhawks this season.
Up Next
The Jayhawks are back at Allen Fieldhouse next Wednesday, Feb. 23, to face No. 6/5 Iowa State. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. CT and the game will broadcast on Big 12 NOW on ESPN+.
