No. 4/6 Kansas to Host Loyola Maryland Tuesday

Jayhawks Return Home
No. 4/6 Kansas (4-1) returns to the friendly confines of Allen Fieldhouse after a four-game hiatus to take on Loyola University Maryland (1-5), Tuesday, Dec. 1, at 7 p.m. (Central). The game will be televised on the Jayhawk IMG Network and ESPN3. Kansas went 3-1 on its road trip to Chicago and Lahiana, Hawaii. Loyola looks to end a three-game losing streak after its 90-82 overtime loss at Siena on Nov. 28.
 
About Kansas
Kansas is 4-1 on the season after winning the 2015 Maui Jim Maui Invitational Nov. 23-25. KU defeated host Chaminade, 123-72, on Nov. 23; UCLA, 92-73, Nov. 24; and No. 19/13 Vanderbilt, 70-63. Kansas averages 93.4 points per game and has a +21.6 scoring margin. The Jayhawks average 39.6 rebounds per game with a +7.4 rebound margin. KU makes 10.2 3-pointers per game and also averages 19.6 assists, 7.0 steals and 3.0 blocked shots. Additionally, the Jayhawks make 18.8 free throws per contest at 74.0 percent.
 
Junior G Wayne Selden Jr. was named co-Most Valuable Player of the Maui Invitational where he averaged 19.3 points in Kansas’ three wins. Overall, Selden leads KU with a 17.0 scoring average, which includes a team-best 17 3-pointers made. Selden also averages 3.0 rebounds per game and has 15 assists and five steals. Senior F Perry Ellis is next in scoring at 15.4 points per game. He is second on the team with a 6.0 rebound average and joined Selden on the Maui Invitational All-Tournament Team. Also with Selden, junior G Frank Mason III was co-MVP in Maui where he averaged 13.3 points and 5.7 assists in the three wins. For the season, Mason is averaging 13.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 5.8 assists per game. Rounding out the KU starters are sophomore G Devonte’ Graham and senior F Jamari Traylor. Graham scores 10.6 points per game and leads KU with 10 steals. He is second on the team with 19 assists. Traylor averages 5.4 points and 5.0 rebounds per game with three blocked shots. He is 11-for-12 (91.7 percent) from the free throw line.
 
Sophomore G Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk has made 10 3-pointers this season which is second-most on the team. He is averaging 9.4 points for the season. Posting his first career double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds vs. Chaminade (11/23), junior F Landen Lucas leads KU with 6.2 rebounds per game. Lucas scores 6.2 points per outing. Other key contributors include freshman F Carlton Bragg Jr. (5.2 ppg, 3.0 rpg), freshman G Lagerald Vick (4.0 ppg) and senior F Hunter Mickelson (2.6 ppg and a team-high five blocked shots).
 
About Loyola Maryland
Located in Baltimore, Maryland, with an enrollment of 4,084, Loyola Maryland is 1-5 on the season after its 90-82 overtime loss at Siena on Nov. 28. A member of the Patriot League, the Greyhounds are 0-3 at home and 1-2 on the road in 2015-16. Loyola is coached by G.G. Smith who is in his third season with a 23-43 record. Loyola averages 73.7 points per game and gives up 79.0 points per contest. The Greyhounds pull down 32.8 rebounds per outing and make 6.0 3-pointers per game.
 
Redshirt junior F Jarred Jones leads Loyola in scoring with a 16.8 average and rebounds at 9.2 boards per game. He is second on the team with 10 steals and four blocked shots. Senior G Tyler Hubbard has made a team-high 25 3-pointers and is just behind Jones with a 16.5 scoring average. Hubbard is making 52.1 percent from beyond the arc. Sophomore G Andrew Walker leads Loyola with 29 assists and 11 steals through six games. Walker scores 12.2 points per contest. Senior F Franz Rassman also scores in double figures at 10.5 ppg. He is second on the team with 4.3 rebounds per contest and has a team-high seven blocked shots. Senior G Eric Laster rounds out the Greyhounds’ starters. He averages 9.7 points per game and is second on the team with a 4.3 rebound average. Other Loyola regulars include sophomore F Cam Gregory (4.5 ppg, 4.2 rpg), freshman G James Fives (1.7 ppg) and sophomore F Chancellor Barnard (1.5 ppg).
 
The Series
Kansas won the only meeting with Loyola Maryland, 90-60, on Jan. 8, 2008, in Allen Fieldhouse. KU sophomore G Sherron Collins paced the Jayhawks with 18 points, while sophomore F Darrell Arthur and senior C Sasha Kaun added 14 points each in the victory. Senior F Darnell Jackson pulled down nine rebounds to go with nine points, while Kaun had eight boards. KU would go on to finish 37-3 and win the 2008 NCAA National Championship. Kansas is 7-2 all-time against current membership of the Patriot League and will host league member Holy Cross on Dec. 9.
 
Kansas Notables

• Kansas leads the Big 12 in scoring offense (93.4), 3-point field percentage (46.8), 3-point field goals made (10.2) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.7). The Jayhawks also rank in the upper half in the league in scoring margin (third at +21.6), field goal percentage (second at 51.3), rebounding (fifth at 39.6), free throw percentage (third at 74.0), 3-point field goal percentage defense (fourth at 28.6), rebounding defense (third at 32.2), rebound margin (fourth at +7.4), assists (second at 19.6), turnover margin (second at +3.2) and steals (fourth at 7.0).
• KU has made 10 or more 3-pointers in three of five games this season. Included are two games with 15 threes, vs. Northern Colorado (11/13) and Chaminade (11/23), which were one off the school record.
• Kansas has outshot four of five opponents this season. The Jayhawks have also outrebounded four of five foes.
• KU’s bench is averaging 32.0 points per game compared to 19.4 by its opponents. Included was a 61-point bench production against Chaminade (11/23).
• Junior G Wayne Selden Jr. has led KU in scoring two of the last three games, including a career-high-tying 25 points in the title game at the Maui Jim Maui Invitational where he was named co-MVP. Selden is 20-for-30 (66.7) from the field in his last three games, including 12-for-17 (70.6 percent) from 3-point range. Selden leads the Big 12 with 3.4 3-pointers made per game.
• Junior G Frank Mason III has led KU in assists in four of five games. His 5.0 rebounds per game are tied for third-most on the team. Mason was also named co-MVP of the Maui Invitational along with Selden.
• Sophomore G Devonte’ Graham is 14-for-27 (51.9 percent) in his last three games, including 7-for-12 (58.3 percent) from beyond the arc.
• Sophomore G Svi Mykhailiuk has made multiple threes in two of his last three games. His six threes versus Chaminade (11/23) were a career high.
• Junior F Landen Lucas is 7-for-9 (77.8 percent) from the field in his last three games. He had his first career double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds against Chaminade (11/23).
• Senior F Perry Ellis was also a member of the Maui Invitational All-Tournament Team where his best outing was a 24-point effort in the semifinal against UCLA (11/24). Ellis has led KU in rebounds in each of the last two games.
• Senior F Jamari Traylor is 11-for-12 (91.7 percent) from the free throw line this season.
• On Nov. 25, it was announced that freshman F Cheick Diallo had been cleared by the NCAA to play his first game against Loyola Maryland on Dec. 1.
   
  Maui Recap
  Kansas won its second Maui Jim Maui Invitational Nov. 23-25 with its other coming in 1996. The Jayhawks opened the event with a 123-72 win versus host Chaminade. The 123 points were the sixth-most in KU history and the 15 3-pointers for the game were one shy of the KU school record. In the semifinal, Kansas outdistanced UCLA 92-73 behind 24 points from senior F Perry Ellis. In the title game, KU overcame a 10-point deficit, 16-6, to defeat then-No. 19/16 Vanderbilt, 70-63. Junior G Wayne Selden Jr. tied his career high with 25 points to lead all scorers. Selden would be named co-Most Valuable Player of the Maui Invitational along with teammate Frank Mason III, who averaged 13.3 points, 5.4 assists and 5.2 rebounds in the three games. Ellis joined Selden on the Maui Invitational All-Tournament Team.
   
  In the Polls
  Kansas is ranked No. 4 by the Associated Press and No. 6 in the USA Today Coaches’ polls released Nov. 30. KU has been ranked in each of the last 127 AP polls which is the second longest active streak in NCAA Division I behind Duke’s 159. The last time Kansas was not ranked by AP was during the 2008-09 season.
   
  Under head coach Bill Self, Kansas has been ranked in the AP Top 25 for 213 weeks, which includes 151 weeks in the Top 10 and 84 times in the Top 5. In the coaches’ poll, under Self, Kansas has been ranked 226 times with 164 in the top 10 and 99 in the top five.
   
  Kansas entered the 2015-16 season ranked No. 4 by AP and No. 5 in the coaches’ polls. This season’s AP poll is the highest ranking for the Jayhawks since 2009-10 when they entered the season No. 1 in the country. The preseason ranking is the 10th time in the Bill Self era that the Jayhawks enter the season slotted seventh or higher, including each of the last four seasons – No. 5 in 2015-16 and 2014-15, No. 6 in 2013-14, and No. 7 in 2012-13.
   
  Last season, KU entered the year No. 5 nationally in the coaches’ poll and ended up No. 17. The Jayhawks were ranked in the top 10 in 12 times during the 2014-15 season.
   
  Grab Your Sweater and Be a Part of History Dec. 19
  Kansas Athletics will attempt to break the GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS® title for the “largest gathering of people wearing holiday sweaters.” at the men’s basketball game against Montana on Dec. 19. Tipoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. (Central).
   
  The current record is 1,175 people and was set December 10, 2014 at Loughborough University in Loughborough, United Kingdom. In preparation for the GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS® record attempt, Kansas Athletics has designed a special Kansas Basketball holiday sweater for the occasion. The sweaters are available to purchase at several retailers throughout the state and online.
   
  A holiday sweater is defined by having long sleeves and at least one holiday themed item on it (i.e. reindeer, trees, snowman, peppermint candies, lights, etc.). Fans are encouraged to wear their “ugly” holiday sweaters to the Dec. 19 game and help Kansas Athletics make history, while also getting into the holiday spirit.
   
  UP NEXT
  Kansas continues its five-game homestand when it plays host to Harvard on Saturday, Dec. 5, at 2:15 p.m. on ESPN2, Holy Cross on Dec. 9, Oregon State on Dec. 12 at Sprint Center in Kansas City and Montana on Dec. 19.
   
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