January 22, 2015

No. 11 Jayhawks Hit Road to Face No. 17 Longhorns Saturday

G19: #11/14 Kansas at #17/18 Texas
Date/Time	Jan. 24, 2015/1 p.m. (Central)
Location	Austin, Texas
Arena	Erwin Center (16,540)
Series	Kansas leads 23-8
Television	CBS Ian Eagle (Play-by-Play) Jim Spanarkel (Analyst)
Radio	Jayhawk Radio Network Bob Davis (Play-by-Play) Greg Gurley (Analyst) Bob Newton (Engineer) ESPN Radio Bill Rosinski (Play-by-Play) Bob Valvano (Analyst)
Live Stats	KUAthletics.com
Notes	Kansas Texas Big 12 Conference

Stats at a Glance	KU	UT
Record	15-3, 4-1	14-4, 3-2
Rankings	#11/14	#17/18
Points/GM	72.3	69.9
Points Allowed/GM	64.9	56.3
FG%	.435	.438
Rebounds/GM	39.2	42.8
Assists/GM	14.2	13.1
Blocks/GM	4.8	7.7
Steals/GM	6.8	4.3

Kansas Hits the Road at Texas
No. 11/14 Kansas (15-3, 4-1) will travel to No. 17/18 Texas (14-4, 3-2) in the first of a two-game road swing on Jan. 24, at 1 p.m. (Central) on CBS. The Jayhawks rebounded from their first Big 12 loss of the season with an 85-78 win against No. 19/20 Oklahoma on ESPN Big Monday, Jan. 19. Texas has won two straight, which includes a 66-48 win at TCU on Jan. 19 in its last outing.

This is a battle of giants as Kansas leads the Big 12 with 249 all-time conference regular-season victories, while Texas is second at 197. KU is also tops with 14 Big 12 regular-season titles, including the last 10 straight, while Texas is second with three. Including the Big 12 Championship, Kansas and Texas are the only two conference schools to have posted more than 200 wins against league competition with KU at 285 and UT at 220.

About Kansas
No. 11/14 Kansas (15-3, 4-1) is tied with Iowa State for first place in the Big 12 standings heading into the weekend. The Texas contest is the fourth of four-straight ranked foes Kansas will face. Kansas scores 72.3 points per game and has a +7.4 scoring margin. The Jayhawks have outrebounded each of their last four opponents, average 39.2 boards per game and have a +7.1 rebound margin. KU leads the Big 12 in three-point field goal percentage at 39.7 percent and averages 14.2 assists, 6.8 steals and 4.8 blocked shots per game.

Junior F Perry Ellis scored 16 points and pulled down eight rebounds against Oklahoma (1/19) and leads KU in scoring with 12.8 points and rebounding with 6.7 boards per game. Ellis is tied for ninth in the Big 12 scoring and tied for fifth in rebounding. His 43.1 field goal percentage is 13th in the league. Sophomore G Frank Mason III is just behind Ellis with 12.7 points per game, which is 11th in the conference. He posted a career-high 21 points at Iowa State (1/17) and has 15-straight games scoring in double figures. Mason is third in the league in assists with 4.2 per game and sixth in free throw percentage at 82.0 percent. He also leads the Jayhawks with 25 three-pointers and pulls down 4.0 rebounds per game. Sophomore G Wayne Selden, Jr., is just behind Mason with 24 three-pointers made. Selden had 12 points at Iowa State (1/17) and scores 8.9 points per contest. He is second on the team with 59 assists. Rounding out the KU starters are freshman G Kelly Oubre, Jr., and junior F Jamari Traylor. After his 19 points and nine rebounds versus Oklahoma (1/19), Oubre is averaging 12.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.4 steals in Big 12 play. He averages 8.6 points and 4.7 rebounds per game in 2014-15. Oubre’s 21 steals are second on the team to Mason’s 25 and he has made 19 three-pointers this season. Traylor scores 5.2 points per contest and pulls down 3.9 rebounds. His 22 blocked shots for the season are second on the team.

Freshman F Cliff Alexander is coming off his second double-double of the season with 13 points and a career-high 13 rebounds against Oklahoma (1/19). He leads Kansas in blocked shots with 25 and in field-goal percentage at 57.3 percent. He is 17-for-24 (70.8 percent) from the field in Big 12 play. Alexander scores 8.3 points per game and his 5.8 rebound average is second on the team behind Ellis. Freshman G Devonte’ Graham returned to the lineup against Texas Tech (1/10) after missing a month (six games) with a sprained toe. In his four games back, Graham has averaged 6.8 points and 4.3 assists and has 17 assists and one turnover. Graham is scoring 6.2 points per game for the season. Sophomore G Brannen Greene’s 12 points against Oklahoma (1/19) were his most in four games. He has made 20 three-pointers this season. Greene has two starts and is scoring 5.2 points per game. Freshman G Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk scores 4.1 points per game and has made 14 three-pointers. Mykhailiuk has started six games in his initial campaign as a Jayhawk. Sophomore F Landen Lucas has started eight games this season and averages 2.2 points and 3.1 rebounds per game. He logged 12 minutes against Oklahoma State (1/13) and a career-high 19 minutes at Iowa State (1/17). Redshirt junior F Hunter Mickelson (1.8 ppg, 1.9 rpg) has pulled down seven rebounds in his last two games played.

About Texas
Located in Austin, Texas, with an enrollment of 52,076, No. 17/18 Texas is 14-4 overall and 3-2 in Big 12 play. The Longhorns have won two straight and are 9-2 in the Erwin Center this season. Texas is coached by Rick Barnes who is 396-170 in his 17th season at UT and 598-304 in his 28th season overall. Texas averages 69.9 points per game and has a +13.6 scoring margin. The Longhorns lead the Big 12 in rebounding (42.8), rebound margin (+12.2), blocked shots (7.7), field goal percentage defense (34.4) and free throw percentage (73.9). Nationally they are second in rebound margin and blocked shots and third in field goal percentage defense.

Frehsman F Myles Turner leads Texas in scoring at 11.8 points per game, rebounding at 6.8 boards per contest and the Big 12 with 2.7 blocked shots per outing. Turner, who comes off the bench, also leads the league with an 88.3 free throw percentage and has made 13 three-pointers this season. Senior F Jonathan Holmes is a starter who scores 11.4 points per game and is just behind Turner with 6.7 rebounds per contest. He is second on the team with 24 three-pointers made in 2014-15. Sophomore G Isaiah Taylor has played in eight games and scores 11.4 points per game. He has a team-best 10 steals and makes 80.8 percent from the free throw line. Junior C Cameron Ridley has 32 blocked shots to complement his 8.7 scoring and 4.8 rebounding averages. He shoots a team best 55.6 from the field. Junior G Demarcus Holland leads UT with 47 assists this season and he is tied with Holmes with nine steals for second on the team. Holland scores 7.6 points per game. Junior F Connor Lammert (5.1 ppg, 5.8 rpg) rounds out the UT starters. He has made 12 threes this season. Junior G Javan Felix is second on the team with 31 assists. He scores 10.5 points per game and has made a team-best 30 three-pointers. Other UT regulars include sophomore G Kendal Yancy (4.7 ppg, 2.7 rpg) and junior C Prince Ibeh (2.4 ppg, 3.1 rpg) and freshman F Jordan Barnett (2.3 ppg).

The Kansas-Texas Series
Year-in and year-out, the Kansas-Texas battles are some of the best in the Big 12, and nationally, in a series that dates back to 1938. Kansas leads the all-time series 23-8, and has won five of the last six meetings and nine of the last 11 matchups, starting with the 2008 Big 12 Championship title game. These two teams have met in four of the last eight Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship title games with KU claiming all four match-ups: 80-68 in Dallas in 2006, 88-84 in overtime in Oklahoma City in 2007, 84-74 in Kansas City in 2008 and 85-73 in Kansas City in 2011. The series is tied at 6-6 in games played in Austin, with all 12 meetings at the Erwin Center. Since the inception of the Big 12, Kansas holds a 19-7 record against Texas with a 15-6 mark in regular-season play and 4-1 record in the Big 12 Championship. Kansas head coach Bill Self is 13-8 all-time against Texas, including 13-6 while at KU. Texas head coach Rick Barnes is 7-17 all-time versus Kansas.

What’s Trending

The NCAA is listing statistics and Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) on a regular basis. Through games of Jan. 21, Kansas is No. 3 nationally in the RPI.
Kansas has outrebounded 14 of 18 opponents this season with a 13-1 record in those contests. Seven of those games have been by double figures. Included are two of the last three and four of the last seven games.
Kansas leads the Big 12 in three-point field goal percentage at 39.7 percent. The Jayhawks also rank in the upper half of the conference in scoring offense (fourth at 72.3), free throw percentage (third at 71.2), rebounding (fourth at 39.2), rebounding defense (fourth at 32.1), rebound margin (third at +7.1), assists (fifth at 14.2), blocked shots (fifth at 4.8), steals (fifth at 6.8) and assist-to-turnover ratio (fifth at 1.1).
Kansas made 10 three-pointers against Oklahoma (1/19) and has made 19 treys in its last two games. KU has made 10 or more threes four times this season.
Kansas is 11-0 when leading at the half in 2014-15.
KU has averaged 17.1 assists in its last seven games. The Jayhawks average 14.2 assists per game in 2014-15.
Sophomore G Frank Mason III scored a career-high 21 points at Iowa State (1/17) and is averaging 15.7 points in his last three games. He has scored in double figures in each of KU’s last 15 contests, which is tops on the KU team.
Freshman G Kelly Oubre, Jr., has started the last nine games, 10 games total, for Kansas this season. In his last nine starts, Oubre has averaged 13.8 points and 7.2 rebounds while shooting 48.9 percent from the field and 43.2 percent from three-point range. He also has 18 steals (2.0 spg) in that span. With his 19 points against OU (1/19), Oubre has scored in double figures four-straight contests.
The Jayhawks are now 5-0 when Oubre connects on two or more three-pointers this season.
Junior F Perry Ellis has averaged 17.5 points and 9.5 rebounds in his last two games which included his fourth double-double of the season with 19 points and 11 rebounds at Iowa State (1/17) and 16 points and eight boards versus Oklahoma (1/19). Ellis has 27 rebounds in his last three games. He has scored in double figures in five of his last seven games.
Freshman F Cliff Alexander is 17-for-24 (70.8 percent) from the field in Big 12 play with eight blocked shots. He posted his second-career double-double, tallying 13 points and 13 rebounds in 23 minutes of action against OU (1/19).
Since returning from an injury suffered against Georgetown on Dec. 10, 2014, freshman G Devonte’ Graham has recorded 17 assists and just one turnover in 75 combined minutes of play (over the last five games).
Sophomore G Brannen Greene was 4-for-6, including 3-for-4 from three-point range, against Oklahoma (1/19) in scoring 12 points. It was the fourth game of 10-plus points for Greene and his second in Big 12 play this season.
Sophomore G Wayne Selden Jr.’s 12 points at Iowa State (1/17) were his most in Big 12 play this season and the most since scoring 16 points versus UNLV (1/4).
Six Big 12 teams are ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 (Jan. 19) which is more than any other conference. Nine of the 10 Big 12 teams have been ranked at one point during the 2014-15 season.
At 104-22 (82.5 percent), the Big 12 is the only league nationally to have an 80 percent or better winning percentage against non-conference foes.

In the Polls
In the Jan. 19 national polls, Kansas men’s basketball is ranked No. 11 in the Associated Press and No. 14 in the USA Today Coaches’ polls. The Jayhawks have been ranked in each of the last 115 Associated Press polls dating back to the 2008-09 season, including in the top five 50 times. In the coaches’ poll, the Jayhawks have been ranked in each of the past 121 polls and in the top five on 54 occasions.

Versus Ranked Teams
With its 85-78 win against No. 19 Oklahoma on Jan. 19, Kansas is 59-31 against Associated Press-ranked teams, including 5-2 in 2014-15 under head coach Bill Self. In each of the last five seasons the Jayhawks have a winning record versus ranked foes, including a 7-3 mark in 2013-14. Since the 2009-10 season, KU is 37-14 against AP ranked teams.

Up Next
Kansas will continue its road swing at TCU on Wednesday, Jan. 28, at 8 p.m., on ESPNU. The Jayhawks will return to Allen Fieldhouse for two games. On Saturday, Jan. 31, they will host Kansas State at 1 p.m. on either ESPN or ESPN2, and on Feb. 2 Iowa State comes to Lawrence for ESPN Big Monday at 8 p.m.

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