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🏀 GAME PREVIEW: vs. UNCG

LAWRENCE, Kan. – No. 3 Kansas (0-1) will tip off the home portion of the 2019-20 campaign when the Jayhawks welcome the UNCG Spartans (1-0) to Allen Fieldhouse on Friday, Nov. 8. Start time is slated for 8 p.m. (CT) on ESPNU with Mark Neely (play-by-play) and Tim Welsh (analyst) calling the action.

GAME INFORMATION:

#3/3 Kansas vs UNCG

Date/Time: Friday, Nov. 8 at 8 p.m. (CT)

Where: Allen Fieldhouse

Listen: Jayhawk Radio Network

Watch: ESPNU

  • Mark Neely (play-by-play), Tim Welsh (analyst)

TIP-OFF

  • After its 68-66 loss to No. 4 Duke on Nov. 5, Kansas is 0-1 for only the second time in the Bill Self era with the other being in 2016-17. KU went on to go 31-5 that season and advanced to the Elite Eight.
  • The last time KU entered its home opener 0-1 was 1981-82 under head coach Ted Owens. That season Jayhawks lost to North Carolina in Charlotte, N.C., before defeating Arizona State the following game in Lawrence.
  • KU has won a mind-boggling 46-consecutive regular-season home openers in Allen Fieldhouse, a streak which started in the 1973-74 season.
  • Kansas 93-13 following a loss in the Bill Self era, including 8-1 last season. Since the 2013-14 season, KU is 43-5 following a loss.
  • KU went 17-0 in home games last season, including a 16-0 record in Allen Fieldhouse. KU has gone undefeated in Allen Fieldhouse 20 times, including seven seasons since 2007-08.
  • Kansas’ 21-game homecourt winning streak enters 2019-20 as the fourth-longest active in NCAA Division I.
  • Kansas and UNCG have met just once with KU winning 105-66 on Nov. 22, 2002. KU went on to play in the 2003 Final Four, finishing runner-up and posting at 30-8 record under head coach Roy Williams.
  • Kansas entered the season ranked No. 3 in both the preseason Associated Press and USA TODAY Coaches’ top-25 polls. The Jayhawks have been ranked fifth or higher in each of the last seven preseason AP polls and the last six coaches’ polls.
  • KU has been ranked in each of the last 201 AP polls dating back to 2008-09. The 201-consecutive weeks in the polls is the longest active streak in the nation. KU holds the same streak in the coaches’ poll at 210.
  • Senior Udoka Azubuike was named the Big 12 Preseason Player of the Year by the league’s coaches. He is the ninth Jayhawk to claim preseason Big 12 honors as the top player and the seventh in the Bill Self era.

NOTES:

BOUNCING BACK

Since Bill Self took the helm of the Jayhawks in 2003, Kansas has been stellar at bouncing back following a loss. Over the last 16 season, Kansas is 93-13 in games coming off a defeat, which is the best winning percentage in NCAA DI in that span.

 

Incredibly, KU has been even more efficient over the last six seasons, amassing a record of 42-5 after losses. This includes an 8-1 mark last season.

 

Best Records Following a Loss
(Since 2003-04)
W-LPct.
Kansas93-13.877
Gonzaga77-16.828
Duke90-20.818
North Carolina106-26.803
Memphis118-33.781

KANSAS STREAKING AT HOME (AGAIN)

Going 17-0 at home in 2018-19, the Jayhawks are once again building an impressive winning streak on their home court, something that has been a common occurrence in Lawrence over recent decades.

 

KU has won 21-straight home games, 20 of which have come at Allen Fieldhouse (the Dec. 8, 2018 win at Sprint Center considered a home game). The streak currently ranks as the fourth-longest active among NCAA DI schools. KU’s last home loss came to Oklahoma State on Feb. 3, 2018. In 2018-19, the Jayhawks wrapped up their 20th undefeated season at Allen Fieldhouse and their first since 2015-16.

 

Since Bill Self took the reins in 2003-04, Kansas as posted seven unblemished records in a season on James Naismith Court. The Jayhawks have won more Big 12 regular-season titles (14) than have lost home games (13) in that span.

 

Kansas has now posted home-court winning streaks of 20 games or more 15 times, with 11 of those streaks coming at Allen Fieldhouse. The program record is 69-straight home wins from Feb. 7, 2007, to Jan. 22, 2011. That streak is a Big 12 record and the 11th-longest in NCAA DI history.

 

Kansas is an incredible 20-2 in its last 22 regular-season contests against top-10 ranked squads. Since Bill Self took the reins of the Jayhawks in 2003, KU is 40-20 against top-10 teams, a number which includes postseason play.

DUKE LEFTOVERS

  • Duke’s win broke a three-game losing streak against Kansas. It was the Blue Devils first win over the Jayhawks since the 2011 Maui Invitational.
  • Kansas fell to 0-1 for the second time in the 17 years under coach Bill Self with the other in 2016-17.
  • The loss ended a Kansas three-game winning streak in the Champions Classic, making KU 4-5 in the event. KU is 2-1 versus Duke in the Champions Classic.
  • The Jayhawks committed 28 turnovers for the game, the most by a KU team since Kansas tallied 29 against Colorado on February 15, 1992.
  • KU dropped to 98-50 vs AP Top-25 teams in the Self era, 40-21 with those teams being ranked in the Top-10. The loss was also just the third in KU’s last 25 regular-season match-up against an AP top-10 opponent.
  • Junior Marcus Garrett dished a team-high five assists, matching his career high which he’s met three times, the last against Oklahoma (1.2.19).
  • Sophomore guard Ochai Agbaji swiped a career-high four steals.
  • Agbaji scored 15 points on a 6-for-10 shooting night from the field while adding six rebounds. His 2-of-3 clip from beyond the 3-point line marked the sixth time in his 23-career appearances that he has connected on multiple triples in a game.
  • Sophomore guard Devon Dotson scored a team-high 17 points going 5-of-9 for the game.
  • Sophomore forward David McCormack grabbed a career-high 13 rebounds, replacing a previous high of nine which he set against Texas (3.14.19).

THE KU-UNCG SERIES

Kansas and UNCG have met once in men’s basketball with Kansas winning 105-66 on Nov. 22, 2002, in Allen Fieldhouse. Kansas was led by senior All-America Nick Collison who scored 25 points on 10-of-13 shooting with eight rebounds. Sophomore Keith Langford scored 24 points, while senior Kirk Hinrich had 23. Sophomore Wayne Simien led all rebounders posting a double-double with 18 points and 10 boards.

 

UNCG will be the first of two teams from the Southern Conference Kansas will face this season. KU will host East Tennessee State on Nov. 19 in a home contest for the Maui Jim Maui Invitational. KU is 13-0 all-time against the SoCon: 3-0 vs. Chattanooga, 3-0 vs. ETSU, 3-0 vs. Western Carolina, 1-0 vs. The Citadel and 1-0 vs. UNCG.

 

UP NEXT:

Kansas continues its three-game homestand when it plays host to Monmouth on Friday, Nov. 15, at 7 p.m. (Central) on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.

 

KU and Monmouth will be meeting for the first time in men’s basketball.

 

Monmouth’s first five games of 2019-20 are on the road. The Hawks won at Leigh, 66-62, on Nov. 5 and will play at Hofstra on Nov. 9, at Kansas State Nov. 13 before coming to Allen Fieldhouse. They are at Pittsburgh Nov. 18.

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