🏀 GAME PREVIEW: vs. Tennessee
LAWRENCE, Kan. – No. 3 Kansas (15-3, 5-1 Big 12) will host the 300th-straight sellout in Allen Fieldhouse when the Tennessee Volunteers (12-6, 4-2 SEC) come to Lawrence for the SEC/Big 12 Challenge on Saturday, Jan. 25. Tipoff is slated for 3 p.m. (CT) on ESPN. Dan Shulman (play-by-play), Jay Bilas (analyst) and Holly Rowe (reporter) will call the action.
ESPN COLLEGE GAMEDAY INFO
ADMISSION
Admission to Allen Fieldhouse for ESPN College GameDay is free. The doors open to the general public and students at 8:30 a.m., Central Time.
- General Public: The General Public entry will be through gate six on the east side of Allen Fieldhouse. Limited mobility and wheelchair access will be through gate 11 on the south side of the building.
- Students: Students should enter through gate two on the northeast corner of the building.
GAME INFORMATION:
#3/3 Kansas vs. Tennessee
Date/Time: Saturday, Jan. 25 at 3 p.m. (CT)
Where: Allen Fieldhouse
Listen: Jayhawk Radio Network
Watch: ESPN
- Dan Shulman (play-by-play), Jay Bilas (analyst), Holly Rowe (reporter)
TIPOFF
- The Kansas-Tennessee contest will be the 300th-consecutive sellout in Allen Fieldhouse, a streak which started Dec. 4, 2001.
- Saturday’s game will be the site of ESPN College GameDay. It marks the 18th time KU has been a part of a College GameDay during the regular season. KU is 11-6 all-time when it is one of the two teams featured on GameDay.
- Kansas is 4-2 in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge, which began in 2013. The Big 12 is 4-1-1 against the SEC in the Challenge winning in 2013-14, ‘14-15, ‘15-16 and ’18-19. It was tied in ‘16-17, and the SEC claimed the challenge in 2017-18.
- Both teams’ coaching staffs Saturday will be participating in the annual NABC Coaches vs. Cancer Suits And Sneakers Week, for the Jan. 25 contest. In this, coaching staffs across the nation will wear sneakers with their suits at games to raise awareness and funds for cancer research.
- Through five games in Big 12 play, Kansas (15-3) sits alone in second place at 5-1 in league standings, one game behind Baylor (6-0). West Virginia (4-2) and TCU (4-2) are one game behind Kansas.
- KU leads the series with Tennessee, 3-1, including a 1-0 record in Lawrence. The first meeting was in Allen Fieldhouse, a KU 92-85 win on Jan. 3, 2009.
- KU is ranked No. 3 in the NET rankings as of Jan. 22 games. The Jayhawks’ strength of schedule is No. 1 nationally. Kansas is the only school with eight Quadrant 1 wins. KU is 8-3 against Q1. Seton Hall is next with six Q1 wins.
- KU is 8-1 at home this season, including 7-1 in Allen Fieldhouse. In the Bill Self era, the Jayhawks are 257-14 and have won as many conference regular-season titles (14) than lost games in the venue.
- Senior center Udoka Azubuike (12.7 ppg, 11.0 rpg, 3.5 bpg in Big 12 play) is one of three DI players averaging a double-double and 3+ blocks in conference games — and the only one in a major conference.
- Kansas is one of 15 teams nationally to have had six different players score 20 or more points in a game this season. Devon Dotson, Isaiah Moss, Udoka Azubuike, Ochai Agbaji, David McCormack and Christian Braun – have posted 20 or more points in a game this season.
NOTES:
300th-STRAIGHT SELLOUT
The Saturday’s contest will be the 300th-consecutive sellout in Allen Fieldhouse, a streak which started Dec. 4, 2001, in a win against Wake Forest under head coach Roy Williams. The Wake Forest contest was the second game of the 2001-02 season, which followed Allen Fieldhouse’s last non-sellout, a 105-62 win over Pittsburg State on Nov. 28, 2001. That contest had an announced attendance of 16,100.
By the Numbers during the streak:
7 – Kansas Big 12 Player of the Year selections
8 – Undefeated seasons in Allen Fieldhouse
9 – Big 12 Coach of the Year selections
15 – Kansas Consensus All-Americans
16 – Big 12 regular-season titles
67 – Kansas All-Big 12 selections
69 – Homecourt winning streak from 2007-11
130.4 – Guinness Book of World Records decimal reading on Feb. 13, 2017 vs. West Virginia
284-15 – KU’s home record during the streak (95.0%)
6,626 – Days of the streak
4.89 million – Fans that attended KU home games during the streak
COLLEGE GAMEDAY REGULARS
For the 18th time, Kansas will be featured on ESPN CollegeDay during the regular season when the Jayhawks host Tennessee on Jan. 25. KU has been one of the two teams in the “GameDay” game 17 times in the regular season and boasts a record of 11-6 in those 17 regular-season contests. Kansas has also won six of the last seven appearances.
The weekly-traveling telecast has originated from Allen Fieldhouse in 2005, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2013, 2016 and 2018. KU was the GameDay road team in 2006, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018. College GameDay also originated from three postseason contests involving Kansas; at the 2006 Big 12 Championship semifinals in Dallas and the 2008 Final Four (semifinal and final) when Kansas won the title in San Antonio.
KANSAS IN THE SEC/BIG CHALLENGE
This is the seventh year for the SEC/Big 12 Challenge and the fifth-straight in which all 10 games in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge will take place in one day. The Big 12 holds a 4-1-1 record in the series. In the first four years of the event, the SEC/Big 12 Challenge trophy went in the Big 12 office. The Big 12 won it the first three seasons and the leagues split the 10 games in 2017 (in case of a tie, the trophy stays with the conference that won it the previous season). The Big 12 holds a 35-25 (.583) advantage in the Challenge games.
Kansas is 4-2 in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge, having split with Florida in 2013-14 and 2014-15, as both teams claimed home victories. KU then swept a home-and-home series with Kentucky, claiming a 90-84 overtime in Allen Fieldhouse in 2016 and a 79-73 win in Lexington, Kentucky in 2017. In 2018, Kansas defeated Texas A&M, 79-68, in Allen Fieldhouse and last season lost at Kentucky, 71-63. Dating back to 2007, Kansas is 7-4 in conference challenges (1-1 vs. Arizona, 2-0 vs. UCLA, 1-1 vs. Florida, 2-1 vs. Kentucky, 1-0 vs. Texas A&M, 0-1 vs. Villanova).
ABOUT TENNESSEE
Located in Knoxville, Tenn., with an enrollment of 29,460, Tennessee is 12-6 overall and 4-2 in the SEC after its 73-48 win over Ole Miss on Jan. 21. The Volunteers are tied for third in the 14-team conference behind LSU (6-0) and Kentucky (5-1). Tennessee is coached by Rick Barnes who is 100-56 in his fifth season at UT and 704-370 in his 33rd season overall.
Tennessee is 2-2 in true road games and 4-3 away from home this season. The Volunteers average 66.5 points per game and have a plus-7.5 scoring margin. Their 59.0 points allowed per game are seventh nationally and their 5.8 blocked shots are 10th in the NCAA. Tennessee pulls down 36.7 rebounds per game and has a plus-2.9 rebound margin. UT is 15th nationally in 3-point field goal percentage defense at 37.7 percent.
Senior guard Jordan Bowden leads Tennessee in scoring at 12.3 points per game. He has made a team-high 28 3-pointers and has 45 assists and 18 steals. Redshirt-junior John Fulkerson leads UT in scoring in SEC games at 11.3 points per contest. Overall, Fulkerson scores 11.5 points per game and is second on the team with a 5.7 rebound average.
SERIES HISTORY:
vs. Tennessee: KU leads 3-1
Current Streak: Win 2
Longest KU Win Streak: 2
Longest KU Losing Streak: N/A
In Lawrence: KU leads 1-0
In Knoxville: UT leads 1-0
Neutral Sites: KU leads 2-0
Under Bill Self: KU leads 3-0
First Meeting: Jan. 3, 2009 (W, 92-85)
Last Meeting: Nov. 23, 2018 (W, 87-82 ot)
Largest Margin of Victory: 17 (82-67, 11.28.2014)
Largest Margin of Defeat: 8 (68-76, 1.10.2010)
UP NEXT:
The Jayhawks will journey to Stillwater, Oklahoma to take on the Oklahoma State Cowboys for ESPN Big Monday on Jan. 27. Tipoff from Gallagher-Iba Arena is set for 8 p.m. (CT).
Kansas is 116-59 all-time against the Cowboys and 35-35 inside Gallagher-Iba Arena. KU has won six of the last eight meetings against OSU. The Jayhawks are also 50-12 under Bill Self on ESPN Big Monday, which includes wins their last 14 Big Monday contests.
