Kansas Heads to Iowa State for ESPN Big Monday

Kansas Heads to Iowa State for ESPN Big Monday
No. 3/3 Kansas (16-3, 5-2) heads to No. 19/21 Iowa State (15-4, 4-3) for ESPN Big Monday, on Jan. 25 at 8 p.m. (Central). The Jayhawks, 11-time Big 12 regular-season defending champions, are in a four-way tie for first in the 2016 conference race with Baylor, West Virginia and Oklahoma, after their 76-67 win against Texas on Jan. 23. Iowa State, one game behind the group of four tied for first-place in the Big 12 standings, brings a three-game winning streak into ESPN Big Monday after its 73-60 win at TCU Jan. 23.
 
Iowa State will be the sixth ranked team Kansas will have faced in 2015-16 with the Jayhawks currently 3-2 versus ranked foes. This will be the fourth Big 12-ranked team KU will play in 2016.
 
Since the inception of the Big 12 in 1996-97, Kansas is 55-19 all-time on ESPN Big Monday (32-1 at home, 23-18 on the road), including 36-11 under head coach Bill Self (21-0 at Allen Fieldhouse, 15-11 on the road).
 
After losses at West Virginia (1/12) and at Oklahoma State (1/19), Kansas is looking to avoid a Big 12 three-game road losing streak for the second straight season (at West Virginia, at Kansas State and at Oklahoma) with the previous three-game league road losing skid coming in 2004-05 (at Texas Tech, at Oklahoma and at Missouri). KU tied Oklahoma for the 2005 league crown which was the first of its current 11-straight Big 12 regular-season titles and won the 2015 championship outright.
 
About Kansas
Ranked in the Associated Press top five every week this season, Kansas is 16-3 overall and tied for first in the Big 12 standings at 5-2. KU averages 84.3 points per game and is second in the Big 12 with a +15.9 scoring margin. KU pulls down an average of 39.2 rebounds per game and has a +5.5 rebound margin. The Jayhawks also average 16.8 assists, 7.6 steals and 4.1 blocked shots per contest.
 
Senior F Perry Ellis is coming off a 26-point performance against Texas (1/23) and averaging 18.4 points and 7.4 rebounds in Big 12 play. Overall, Ellis leads KU with a 16.3 scoring average and 6.6 rebounds per contest. Ellis is the only player in the Big 12 to average in the top six in scoring (third) and rebounding (sixth). Junior G Wayne Selden Jr., is second in the Big 12 in 3-point field goals made at 2.6 and his 14.7 scoring average is eighth in the league. Selden has four 20-point efforts this season and just missed his fifth with 19 points, including four 3-pointers, against Texas (1/23). Junior G Frank Mason III is scoring 13.2 points per game which is tied for 11th in the Big 12 and is fourth in the league with a 4.8 assist average and fifth in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.6. He has a team-high 30 steals. After his 14 points versus Texas (1/23), sophomore G Devonte’ Graham is scoring 10.7 points per game. He is second on the team with 28 steals and is third in the Big 12 with a 3.5 assist-to-turnover ratio. Junior F Landen Lucas rounds out the KU starters from the Texas contest. He scores 4.1 points per game and is second on the team with a 4.9 rebound average after his 10 boards versus Texas (1/23).
 
Junior G Brannen Greene is a 3-point specialist who scores 6.6 points per game off the bench. He is 18-for-33 (54.5 percent) from beyond the arc this season. Sophomore G Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk has made 20 3-pointers made this season, helping him average 6.0 points per game. Freshman Cheick Diallo (4.8 ppg, 2.9 rpg) started his first college game at Oklahoma State (1/19). He leads KU with 13 blocked shots. Freshman F Carlton Bragg Jr., is averaging 4.7 ppg and 2.8 rpg overall. He posted a career-high 10 points versus TCU (1/16). Senior F Hunter Mickelson has started 10 of the last 12 games and is averaging 2.8 points and 2.7 rebounds and his 1.1 blocked shots per game are eighth in the Big 12. Senior F Jamari Traylor (2.7 ppg, 3.6 rpg) has started seven games in 2015-16.
 
About IOWA STATE
Located in Ames, Iowa, with an enrollment of 36,001, Iowa State has won three-straight games after its 73-60 win at TCU Jan. 23. The Cyclones are coached by Steve Prohm who is in his first season with a 15-4 record at ISU and is 119-33 in his fifth season overall. ISU is 9-1 in Hilton Coliseum this season. ISU averages 84.4 points per game which is second in the Big 12. The Cyclones lead the league with a 50.2 field goal percentage and are second with a 1.5 assist-to-turnover ratio. ISU averages 38.4 rebounds per game and has a +2.9 rebound margin. ISU makes 8.1 3-pointers per contest and averages 16.6 assists, 6.5 steals and 4.3 blocked shots per game.
 
Senior F Georges Niang is second in the Big 12 with a 19.3 scoring average. His 6.4 rebound average is second on the team and ninth in the conference. Niang is also second on the squad with 32 3-pointers made this season and 61 assists. Junior G Monte Morris is next in scoring at 15.2 points per game. He is second in the league in assists at 6.8 and steals at 2.1. Morris has made 20 3-pointers this season. Senior F Jameel McKay is third in the Big 12 in rebounds at 9.3 to complement his 13.2 scoring average. His 1.7 blocked shots per game are third in the league. Senior F Abdel Nader (12.7 ppg, 5.6 rpg) and junior G Matt Thomas (10.0 ppg, 5.1 rpg) round out the ISU starters. Nader is second on the team with 23 steals, while Thomas leads ISU with 45 3-pointers made.  Other ISU regulars include junior G Deonte Burton (8.5 ppg, 3.1 rpg) and sophomore G Hallice Cooke (3.5 ppg).
 
The Series
Kansas leads the all-time series with Iowa State, 177-62, dating back to 1908. Iowa State has won three of the last four meetings which includes two contests in the Big 12 Championship. Prior to ISU’s recent success, KU posted an 18-1 record versus the Cyclones from 2006 until 2014. KU is 68-38 versus ISU in games played in Ames, Iowa, including 24-20 in Hilton Coliseum. The teams have split the last four meetings in Hilton, 2-2, with all four being decided by eight points or less or in overtime. Since the inception of the Big 12, Kansas is 32-11 against Iowa State with a 29-9 record in regular-season play and a 3-2 mark in the Big 12 Championship. Bill Self is 22-6 all-time versus Iowa State, including 21-6 while at KU, while ISU’s Steve Prohm has yet to face Kansas. Six of the last 10 meetings have been decided by nine points or less with two of those in overtime.
 
Kansas Notables
• KU ranks in the top three in the Big 12 in scoring margin (second at +15.9), field goal percentage (second at 48.5), 3-point field goal percentage (second at 43.6), 3-point field goals made (second at 8.7), assists (second at 16.8), turnover margin (second at +2.5), scoring offense (third at 84.3), steals (third at 7.6), rebound margin (third at +5.5) and assist-to-turnover ratio (third at 1.4).
• KU’s 43.6 3-point field goal percentage is fourth nationally and is on pace to break the KU season record of 43.3 set in 1989-90. Its 84.3 scoring average is the best in the Self era and the highest since a 90.9 scoring average in 2001-02.
• Out of its 16 victories of the season, Kansas has won by 10 or more points in 11 of those wins. Five of those wins have been by 30 points or more.
• Kansas has out-shot 16 of 19 opponents this season. The Jayhawks have also out-rebounded 14 of 19 foes.
• Kansas was 10-for-25 from 3-point range against Texas (1/23). KU has shot 40 percent or better from 3-point range in 14 of its 19 games.
• The KU bench has outscored its opponents’ bench in 12 of 19 games this season and is 12-0 in those contests.
• KU has made seven or more three-pointers in 14 of 19 games this season. KU has made 10 or more 3-pointers eight times, including 15 threes vs. Northern Colorado (11/13) and Chaminade (11/23), which were one off the school record.
• Senior F Perry Ellis is the only player in the Big 12 to rank in the top six in scoring (third at 16.3 ppg) and rebounding (sixth at 6.6).
• In his last 11 games, Ellis is 11-for-21 (52.4 percent) from 3-point range, 47-for-56 (83.9 percent) from the free throw line.
• Junior G Wayne Selden Jr. is second the Big 12 in 3-point field goals made per game at 2.6 and third in 3-point field goal percentage at .485 for all games.
• Sophomore G Devonte’ Graham is third in the Big 12 in assist-to-turnover ratio at 3.5, while junior Frank Mason III is fifth at 2.6. Kansas is the only in Big 12 school to have two ranked in the top five in assist-to-turnover ratio.
• Kansas is 32-6 when following a conference loss under Self with only one of those losses coming in Allen Fieldhouse (Feb. 19, 2005 vs. Iowa State).
 
Kansas Milestones
• Senior F Perry Ellis is only the 24th Jayhawk to reach the 1,400 point plateau. Ellis has 1,467 career points and is 10 points shy of Brandon Rush’s 1,477 (2006-08) for 22nd on the KU career scoring list. Earlier this month, Ellis became the 16th player in KU history to reach 700 career rebounds, currently 15th at 738. Ellis is on pace to become the eighth player in KU history to rank in the top 15 in both career points and career rebounds: Danny Manning (2,951 points/1,187 rebounds), Nick Collison (2,097 points/1,143 rebounds), Raef LaFrentz (2,066 points/1,186 rebounds), Clyde Lovellette (1,979 points/839 rebounds), Dave Robisch (1,754 points/815 rebounds), Mark Randall (1,627 points/723 rebounds) and Wayne Simien (1,593 points/884 rebounds).
• Junior G Wayne Selden Jr. has scored 959 points and is 41 shy from becoming the 57th Jayhawk to reach the 1,000-point plateau. Selden already ranks tied for 15th (J.R. Giddens) on the KU career 3-pointers made list at 137 and 17th on the 3-pointers attempted list at 355.
• With his four assists against TCU (1/16), junior G Frank Mason III surpassed the 300 career assists mark, currently at 306. Mason has 97 career steals. 
 
KANSAS ON ESPN BIG MONDAY
For the 10th-straight season, the Kansas men’s basketball team will make four appearances on ESPN’s Big Monday, with its second at Iowa State on Jan. 25. In the Big 12 era, Kansas and Iowa State have faced each other on ESPN’s Big Monday seven times. Since the  inception of the Big 12 in 1996-97, Kansas is 55-19 all-time on ESPN’s Big Monday (32-1 at home, 23-18 on the road), including 36-11 under head coach Bill Self (21-0 at home, 15-11 on the road). Additionally, KU has won 25-straight Big Monday games in Allen Fieldhouse, which includes a 21-0 mark under Self.
 
KU TO HOST ESPN COLLEGE GAMEDAY JAN. 30
ESPN College GameDay Covered by State Farm will return to Allen Fieldhouse for the seventh time, in advance of next week’s Big 12/SEC Challenge between the two winningest programs in college basketball history – Kansas and Kentucky on Saturday, Jan. 30.
 
The ESPN College GameDay morning show will begin at 10 a.m., and the evening edition at 3 p.m. – all on ESPN.
 
Doors to Allen Fieldhouse will open at 6:30 a.m., for fans wishing to attend the morning show. The event is free to the public and tickets are not required.
 
GameDay will be originating from Lawrence for the seventh time, including part of a split show in February of last year. The weekly-traveling telecast also visited Lawrence in 2005, 2007, 2008, 2011 and 2013. Next Saturday marks the 12th time the Jayhawks will be featured on GameDay, with appearances as the road team in 2006, 2010, 2012, 2014, and 2015.
 
Kansas vs. Ranked Teams
Kansas has faced five nationally-ranked opponents in 2015-16 with three of those being Big 12 members. This season, KU is 3-2 against ranked foes.
 
In 2014-15, KU set some milestones against ranked foes. KU went 10-6 against Associated Press nationally-ranked teams at tip. The 10 wins were the most in a season for Kansas, surpassing the 9-1 record in the 1996-97 season. The 16 games versus AP-ranked foes were also the most in KU history. The previous high was 12 battles versus ranked foes in three different seasons (1994-95, 2002-03 and 2011-12). Prior to 2015-16, in each of the last five seasons, the Jayhawks have a winning record versus AP-ranked opponents, which included a 7-3 mark in 2013-14. Since the 2009-10 season, KU is 41-19 against AP-ranked teams.
 
Up Next
Kansas will host Kentucky on Saturday, Jan. 30, at 6 p.m. (Central) on ESPN in the Big 12/SEC Challenge. ESPN College GameDay will originate from Allen Fieldhouse on Jan. 30. KU will then host Kansas State on Wednesday, Feb. 3, at 8 p.m. on ESPN2.
 
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