KU to Host Harvard Saturday in Men’s Hoops

Jayhawks Host Harvard
No. 4/6 Kansas (5-1) continues its five-game homestand when it plays host to Harvard (2-5), Saturday, Dec. 5, at 2:15 p.m. (Central) on ESPN2. Kansas takes a four-game winning streak into the Harvard contest after its 94-61 win against Loyola Maryland on Dec. 1 in Allen Fieldhouse. Harvard looks to snap a two-game losing streak after its 80-71 loss at Northeastern Dec. 2.
 
Promotion-wise, fans are encouraged to bring Toys for Tots donations which helps support more than seven million youth worldwide during the holiday season. Additionally, in May, Kansas women’s basketball legend Lynette Woodard was selected as the 2015 Naismith Outstanding Contributor to Women’s Basketball Award delivered by UPS and the Atlanta Tipoff Club. Woodard will return to Allen Fieldhouse Dec. 5-6 to be recognized for her achievements by the Atlanta Tipoff Club and Kansas Athletics. She will be honored during the men’s game versus Harvard, Dec. 5, and the women’s game against St. John’s the following day.
 
About Kansas
Kansas is 5-1 on the season after defeating Loyola Maryland, 94-61, on Dec. 1, to win its 26th-straight home game inside historic Allen Fieldhouse. KU ranks third in NCAA Division I in scoring at 93.5 points per game. The Jayhawks are 10th nationally in scoring margin at +23.5 and fourth in 3-point field goal percentage at 45.7 percent. KU averages 40.8 rebounds per game and has a +7.3 rebound margin. The Jayhawks also average 19.2 assists, 10th nationally, 7.2 steals and 3.8 blocked shots per contest.
 
Junior G Wayne Selden Jr. was honored as co-Big 12 Player of the Week on Nov. 30 after being named co-Most Valuable Player of the Maui Invitational, Nov. 23-25. Selden leads KU and is fourth in the Big 12 in scoring at 17.2 points per game. He leads the league with 3.3 3-pointers made per game and is second with his 57.1 3-point field goal percentage. Senior F Perry Ellis is next in scoring at 15.3 points per game, which is tied for eighth in the Big 12. He is second on the team with a 6.0 rebound average and joined Selden on the Maui Invitational All-Tournament Team. With Selden, junior G Frank Mason III was co-MVP in Maui. He averages 12.5 points per game and is tied for second in the Big 12 with 5.7 assists per contest. He is third in the league with a 4.9 assist-to-turnover ratio. Rounding out the KU starters are sophomore G Devonte’ Graham and senior F Jamari Traylor. Graham scores 10.2 points per game and is tied with Mason for the team lead with 11 steals. He is second on the team with 21 assists. Traylor averages 4.8 points and 5.2 rebounds per game with four blocked shots.
 
Freshman F Cheick Diallo scored 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting with six rebounds and three blocked shots against Loyola Maryland (12/1), his first game of the season after being cleared to play by the NCAA Nov. 24. Sophomore G Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk has made 11 3-pointers this season which is second-most on the team. He is averaging 9.5 points for the season. Junior F Landen Lucas leads KU with 6.2 rebounds per game. Lucas scores 6.2 points per outing but missed the Loyola Maryland (12/1) game due to a sore big toe. Other key contributors include freshman F Carlton Bragg Jr. (5.0 ppg, 3.3 rpg), freshman G Lagerald Vick (3.5 ppg) and senior F Hunter Mickelson (3.5 ppg and a team-high eight blocked shots).
 
About Harvard
Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with an enrollment of 6,700, Harvard is 2-5 on the season after its 80-71 loss at Northeastern Dec. 2. The Crimson are 2-1 at home and 0-4 away from Lavietes Pavillion. Harvard is coached by former Duke standout Tommy Amaker who is 163-84 in his ninth season at Harvard and 339-223 in his 18th season overall. Harvard averages 63.1 points per game and has a +2.0 scoring margin. The Crimson rank eighth nationally in field goal percentage defense allowing opponents to shoot 35.5 percent and its 61.1 points allowed per game are 23rd in NCAA Division I. Harvard is outrebounding foes 38.7 to 35.1 and average 15.7 assists, 5.7 blocked shots and 4.6 steals per game.
 
Junior F/C Zena Edosomwan leads Harvard in scoring at 13.6 points per game and rebounding with a 9.6 average. He is second on the team with seven blocked shots this season. Freshman G Tommy McCarthy is next in scoring at 10.3 points per game and his 29 assists and eight steals are tops on the team. McCarthy has made 12 3-pointers this season. Freshman G Corey Johnson has made a team-best 17 3-pointers as he scores 8.3 points per game. Senior F Evan Cummins and senior G/F Agunwa Okolie round out the Harvard starters. Cummins averages 6.1 points and 6.6 rebounds per game and has a team-best 13 blocked shots, while Okolie scores 6.0 points per contest. Junior G Corbin Miller is second on the team with 13 3-pointers made per game, while other Harvard regulars include senior G/F Patrick Steeves (7.0 ppg, 5.3 rpg), freshman F Weisner Perez (4.3 ppg) and sophomore F Chris Egi (2.3 ppg, 3.3 rpg).
 
The Series
Kansas and Harvard are meeting for the first time in men’s basketball. The Jayhawks are 14-0 all-time against the Ivy League: 3-0 vs. Penn, Yale and Cornell; 2-0 vs. Brown and Princeton; and 1-0 vs. Dartmouth.
 
Harvard head coach Tommy Amaker is no stranger to Kansas. As a player a Duke, Amaker posted a 2-0 record against KU with a 92-86 win in the championship game of the preseason NIT on Dec. 1, 1985, in New York City and later that season a 71-67 victory over Kansas in the 1986 Final Four semifinals in Dallas on March 29, 1986. Amaker averaged 8.0 points and 7.5 assists in the two wins and was later named to the 1986 All-Final Four Team.
 
Kansas Notables

• Kansas leads the Big 12 in scoring offense (93.5), 3-point field percentage (45.7) and 3-point field goals made (9.8). The Jayhawks also rank in the upper half in the league in scoring margin (third at +23.5), field goal percentage (second at 51.2), rebounding (fifth at 40.8), 3-point field goal percentage defense (fifth at 28.3), rebounding defense (fourth at 33.5), rebound margin (fourth at +7.3), assists (second at 19.2), turnover margin (second at +4.0), steals (fourth at 7.2) and assist-to-turnover ratio (second at 1.6).
• Kansas has outshot five of six opponents this season. The Jayhawks have also outrebounded five of six foes.
• The KU bench is averaging 33.5 points per game in 2015-16, compared to 20.8 by its opponents.
• KU has made eight or more 3-pointers in five of six games this season. KU has made 10 or more 3-pointers three times, including 15 threes vs. Northern Colorado (11/13) and Chaminade (11/23), which were one off the school record.
• Junior G Wayne Selden Jr. has made three or more 3-pointers each of the six games to start the season.
• Selden has led KU in scoring three of the last four games, including a career-high-tying 25 points against Vanderbilt (11/25) in the title game at the Maui Jim Maui Invitational where he was named co-MVP.
• Junior G Frank Mason III has led KU in assists in five of six games. He joined Selden as the co-MVP in Maui.
• Senior F Perry Ellis has led KU in rebounds in each of the last three games. Ellis has shot 50 percent or better in five of six games this season. He has two 20-point efforts this season and 15 for his career.
• Sophomore G Devonte’ Graham is 17-for-34 (50.0 percent) in his last four games, including 7-for-13 (53.8 percent) from beyond the arc.
• Sophomore G Svi Mykhailiuk has made multiple threes in two of his last four games. His six threes versus Chaminade (11/23) were a career high.
   
  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 Holy Cross on Dec. 9 at 7 p.m., on Jayhawk TV and ESPN3. KU will then host Oregon State on Dec. 12 at Sprint Center in Kansas City and return to Allen Fieldhouse to host Montana on Dec. 19.
   
  KUAthletics.com: The official online source for Kansas Athletics, Williams Education Fund contributions, tickets, merchandise, multimedia, photos and much, much more.