Men's Hoops to Face Utah in Kansas City Shootout Saturday

Kansas City Shootout presented by aetna
No. 10/10 Kansas (7-1) makes its annual trip to the Sprint Center for the Kansas City Shootout presented by Aetna when it plays host to No. 13/14 Utah (7-1) on Dec. 13 at 2:15 p.m. (Central) on ESPN. Kansas has won six-straight games after its 75-70 victory at Georgetown Dec. 10 in its first true road game of the season. Like KU, Utah has won six-consecutive games after its 65-61 victory at BYU on Dec. 10.
 
Since the 1997-98 season Kansas has played at least one non-conference regular-season game in Kansas City. In that span of 17 seasons, KU has played 56 games in city for an average of 3.3 contests per year. In its regular-season battles in KC, the Jayhawks are 15-2 since the 1997-98 season either at Kemper Arena or Sprint Center.
 
About Kansas
No. 10/10 Kansas (7-1) won its sixth-straight game at Georgetown, 75-70, on Dec. 10. The Jayhawks average 70.1 points per game and have a +6.5 scoring margin. Kansas has outrebounded seven of eight opponents this season and has a +7.1 rebound margin. KU averages 11.9 assists, 6.3 steals and 4.6 blocked shots per game. KU has 10 players who average nine or more minutes per game.
 
Coming off his third double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds at Georgetown (12/10), junior F Perry Ellis leads Kansas with 14.4 points per game and 7.1 rebounds per contest. Ellis has scored 17 or more points in four of his last six games. Sophomore G Frank Mason III leads Kansas with 27 assists and 11 steals through eight games. He is scoring 10.6 points per contest and, at 5-11, pulls down 4.0 rebounds which is third on the team. Sophomore G Wayne Selden, Jr., is just behind Mason with 26 assists to complement his 9.3 scoring average. Selden scored a season-high 21 points against Florida (12/5). Selden is second on the team having made nine three-pointers. Rounding out the KU starters are freshman G Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk and sophomore F Landen Lucas. Mykhailiuk has made eight three-pointers and scores 4.9 points per game, while Lucas is averaging 3.5 points and 3.9 rebounds, which includes a career-high six boards against Florida (12/5).
 
Freshman F Cliff Alexander is third on the team in scoring with 9.6 points per game and leads the Jayhawks with 11 blocked shots. Alexander’s 6.5 rebounds per contest are second on the team. He recorded his first double-double as a Jayhawk with 12 points and 10 rebounds against Florida (12/5). Sophomore G Brannen Greene is coming off a career-high 19 points where he was 5-for-5 from three-point range and 4-for-4 from the line at Georgetown (12/10). Greene is scoring 6.4 points per game and has made a team-best 12 three-pointers. Freshman G Devonte’ Graham is third on the team with seven steals. Graham is scoring 5.9 points per game. Junior F Jamari Traylor is second on the team with nine blocked shots which complements his 3.3 scoring and 3.9 rebounding averages. Freshman G Kelly Oubre, Jr., is coming off his best performance of the season where he scored seven points with five rebounds and two steals at Georgetown (12/10). For the season, Oubre is scoring 2.8 points per outing. Ellis, Selden, Alexander and Oubre are on the Wooden Award Preseason Top 50 list as KU is one of only two schools, Kentucky being the other, to have four on the list.
 
About Utah
Located in Salt Lake City, Utah, with an enrollment of 31,660, Utah is 7-1 on the season after its 65-61 win at BYU on Dec. 10. The Utes are coached by Larry Krystkowiak who is 49-56 in his fourth season at Utah and 91-76 in his sixth season overall. At No. 13 by Associated Press and No. 14 in the USA Today Coaches’, Utah has not been ranked this high by AP since the 2004-05 season. The Utes average 78.6 points per game and have a +21.3 scoring margin. They have dominated the boards averaging 39.0 with a +10.5 rebound margin. Utah is shooting 51.6 percent from the field and makes 7.0 three-pointers per game. They also average 6.8 blocked shots, 5.6 steals and 14.8 assists per game.
 
Utah is deep with 10 players averaging 11-plus minutes per game. Senior G Delon Wright leads Utah in scoring at 15.4 points per game, in assists with 39 and in steals with 14. He is second on the team with a 5.5 rebound average. Junior F Jordan Loveridge is next in scoring at 11.5 points per contest. A three-year starter, Loveridge has played in four of the eight games for Utah in 2014-15. Freshman F Jakob Poeltl leads Utah with 9.3 rebounds per game to complement his 11.3 scoring average. Poeltl also leads the Utes with 23 blocked shots. Junior G Brandon Taylor has made a team-best 14 three-pointers this season. He is scoring 10.3 points per game and is second on the team with 22 assists. Sophomore F Chris Reyes (4.6 ppg, 4.4 rpg) rounds out the Utah starters. Like Loveridge, junior G/F Dakarai Tucker has only played in four games. He is scoring 9.0 points per contest. Other regulars include redshirt freshman F Kyle Kuzma (6.3 ppg), freshman F Brekkott Chapman (6.3 ppg), senior C Dallin Bachynski (3.5 ppg) and freshman G Isaiah Wright (2.0 ppg and 23 assists).
 
The Series
Kansas won the only meeting with Utah, 79-68, on Nov. 25, 1995, at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri, in The Classic. The Jayhawks are 200-70 all-time against current membership of the Pac-12 Conference and KU has faced all 12 teams in the league in men’s basketball. In the Bill Self era, Kansas has faced at least one Pac-12 team in 10 of his 11 seasons and KU has a 12-4 record against the league.
 
What’s Trending

• In Kansas’ six-game winning streak, the Jayhawks are averaging 75.3 points per game with a +12.3 scoring margin.
• Kansas is 52-for-64 (81.3 percent) from the free throw line in the past two games.
• Kansas has hit 25+ free throws in back-to-back games, a feat the team did not accomplish last season.
• KU has eight or more steals in four games this season, including each of the last two contests.
• Sophomore G Brannen Greene is making 52.2 percent (12-for-23) from three-point range this season and is 9-for-9 from the free throw line. Dating back to last season, Greene has made 13-straight free throws.
• Junior F Perry Ellis is 8-for-9 from the free throw line in his last two games.

Kansas in Kansas City
Kansas City has been a second home of sorts for Kansas over the years. KU’s first-ever game — a 16-5 loss to Kansas City YMCA on Feb. 3, 1899 — was played in Kansas City. The Dec. 13 game against Utah will mark KU’s 289th game played all-time in Kansas City, and its 30th in Sprint Center. KU is 24-5 in Sprint Center including winning the 2008, 2010, 2011 and 2013 Big 12 Championships in the venue and the 2012 CBE Classic.
 
In 2009-10 and 2010-11, Kansas went 4-0 in Sprint Center. In 2008-09, KU went 1-2 in the venue. In 2007-08, Kansas went 4-0 in the venue, including winning the Big 12 Championship en route to its NCAA National Championship. Kansas went 8-0 in the Sprint Center in 2012-13 having won the CBE Classic (78-41 vs. Washington State 11/19 and 73-59 vs. St. Louis 11/20), defeating Oregon State 84-78 in the Kansas City Shootout (11/30), winning the Big 12 Championship (defeating Texas Tech 91-63, Iowa State 88-73 and Kansas State 70-54) and beating Western Kentucky 64-57 (3/22) and North Carolina 70-58 (3/24) in the NCAA Tournament.
 
Last season, the Jayhawks were 2-1 in the Sprint Center defeating New Mexico, 80-63, in the Kansas City Shootout in December and Oklahoma State, 77-70 in overtime, in the quarterfinals of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship. Eventual champion, Iowa State defeated KU, 94-83, in the Big 12 semifinals. Kansas played 106 games in Kemper Arena with an 81-25 record. KU is 209-79 in games played in Kansas City.
 
More Notes on the Jayhawks in Kansas City

• Kansas went 26-4 in Kemper Arena from 1997 until 2006, when it played its last game in the venue. Included in that run were Big 12 Championship titles in 1997, 1998 and 1999.
• Kemper Arena was the host of the 1988 NCAA Final Four when the Jayhawks won the national championship.
• With the Dec. 13, 2014, contest against Utah, Kansas will have played at least one regular-season game in Kansas City in 25 of the last 27 seasons, including every year Sprint Center has existed.
• Kansas has won a mindboggling 26 conference tournaments (13 holiday conference tourneys and 13 postseason league titles) with 24 of those in Kansas City. The lone two titles not in KC were in 2006 in Dallas and 2007 in Oklahoma City.

KU in the Sprint Center
Kansas is 24-5 in the Sprint Center. Below is a breakdown of how Kansas has fared in the Sprint Center.
Season           Record (notes)
2007-08        4-0 (Big 12 Championship title)
2008-09        1-2
2009-10        4-0 (Big 12 Championship title)
2010-11        4-0 (Big 12 Championship title)
2011-12        1-2
2012-13        8-0 (CBE Classic title, Big 12 Championship title, NCAA First/Second Round wins)
2013-14        2-1
Overall          24-5 (82.8 winning percentage)
 
Versus Ranked Teams
With its win versus No. 20 Michigan State on Nov. 30, under KU head coach Bill Self, since the 2003-04 season, Kansas is 55-30 against Associated Press-ranked teams. 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 33-13 against AP ranked teams.
 
Kansas Men’s Hoops to Holst Holiday Clinic Dec. 28
Kansas men’s basketball program will hold its annual Men’s Basketball Holiday Clinic for boys and girls ages first through sixth grade on Sunday, Dec. 28, from 11 a.m.-3 p.m., in Allen Fieldhouse. The clinic, hosted by current KU players, coaches and staff, will include fundamental instruction, an official camp T-shirt, a Junior Jayhawk basketball and one general admission ticket to KU’s Dec. 30 home game against Kent State. Additionally, there will be an autograph session with the current KU team and coaches following the clinic.
 
The cost of the clinic is $85 and pre-registration must be done online at www.billselfbasketballcamp.com. No walk-up registration will be taken on the date of the clinic. Families with a child attending the clinic can purchase a maximum of two additional Kent State tickets at check-in on Dec. 28 ($50/per ticket).  These can be purchased only at check-in (cash or credit card) and will not be available to be purchased online. Check-in begins at 11 a.m., and lasts until 11:50 a.m., in the south end of Allen Fieldhouse. Parents are welcome to watch and take pictures from the second level of Allen Fieldhouse during the clinic.
 
Up Next
Kansas will take a week off for final exams before hosting Lafayette on Saturday, Dec. 20, at 2 p.m. in Allen Fieldhouse. The game will be televised on Jayhawk IMG Network/ESPN3/ESPN Full Court. KU will then play at Temple on Monday, Dec. 22, at 6 p.m. (Central) on ESPN2 and return home to Allen Fieldhouse for a Dec. 30 game versus Kent State at 7 p.m., on Jayhawk IMG Network/ESPN3/ESPN Full Court.
 
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