Kansas to host Stanford Saturday afternoon in men’s hoops

Kansas game notes in PDF
Stanford game notes in PDF
Big 12 Conference notes in PDF

Homestand Continues
After concluding the month of November with a 6-1 record, No. 4/5 Kansas plays its third of a six-game homestand when it hosts Stanford (6-2) Saturday, Dec. 3 at 2:30 p.m. The contest will be televised on ESPN. Kansas has won six-straight games after its 91-61 victory versus Long Beach State on Nov. 29. Stanford brings a 6-2 record to Allen Fieldhouse after the Cardinal lost to No. 12/13 Saint Mary’s, 66-51, at home on Nov. 30.
 
ABOUT KANSAS
In its three home games this season, No. 4/5 Kansas has won by an average of 26.3 points. KU is looking to add to the nation’s active home court winning streak of 45 games, which includes 43 in Allen Fieldhouse. The Jayhawks average 85.1 points per game and have a +16.9 scoring margin. KU averages 41.3 rebounds per contest with a +7.3 rebound margin. The Jayhawks also average 18.1 assists, 7.4 steals and 5.1 blocked shots per game.
 
Senior G Frank Mason III has led KU in scoring in five of seven games this season and is averaging 19.6 points per game, which ranks second in the Big 12. The Nov. 14 Big 12 Player of the Week, Mason also averages 5.0 assists and 4.3 rebounds per game. Freshman G Josh Jackson leads Kansas with a 5.7 rebound average and is second in scoring at 14.1 points per game. He is also second on team with eight blocked shots and second with 11 steals. Jackson, who has five steals in his last two games, has been the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week each of the last two weeks and was the Most Valuable Player of the 2016 CBE Hall of Fame Classic, Nov. 21-22. Junior G Devonte’ Graham averages 12.9 points and 5.4 assists per game. He had  a career-high 11 assists against UNC Asheville (11/25) and is second on the team with 14 3-pointer made. Graham leads KU in steals with 12. Sophomore G Lagerald Vick is coming off a career-high 23 points, on 9-for-9 shooting, including 4-for-4 from 3-point range, against Long Beach State (11/29). Vick averages 10.7 points and 5.0 rebounds per game. Like Vick, freshman C Udoka Azubuike has started the last two games for KU. He averages 5.0 points and 5.0 rebounds and leads KU with nine blocked shots.
 
Sophomore F Carlton Bragg Jr. has started five games this season and averages 7.7 points and 5.3 rebounds. Junior G Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk has made six 3-pointers in his last two games and scores 8.9 points per game. He has a team-high 15 3-pointers this season. Senior C Landen Lucas (4.5 ppg, 4.2 rpg, five blocked shots) also started the first five games this season. Junior F Dwight Coleby (1.0 ppg, 2.8 rpg) has averaged 11.7 minutes in his last three outings with six blocked shots in that span.
 
ABOUT Stanford
Located in Stanford, California, with an enrollment of 16,770, Stanford is 6-2 on the season after its 66-51 loss to No. 12/13 Saint Mary’s on Nov. 30. The Cardinal are coached by Jerod Haase who is in his first season at Stanford and is 86-55 in his fifth season overall. Stanford averages 66.8 points and has a +6.3 scoring margin. The Cardinal pull down 37.9 rebounds per game with a +5.6 rebound margin. Stanford also averages 13.0 assists, 6.9 steals and 2.8 blocked shots per game.
 
Stanford’s five starters are all upperclassmen. Junior F Reid Travis leads Stanford in scoring at 16.3 points per game and rebounding with a 9.5 average. Junior G Dorian Pickens scores 13.8 points per contest and leads Stanford with 14 3-pointers made. Pickens pulls down 4.4 rebounds per game. Junior F Michael Humphrey is second on the team with nine steals and scores 7.4 points per outing. Junior G Marcus Allen (4.3 ppg, 2.9 rpg) and senior G Christian Sanders (3.6 ppg) round out the Stanford starters. Sanders has a team-high 29 assists through eight games.
 
Senior C Grant Verhoeven scores 6.3 points per game and averages 13.5 minutes per contest. Other Stanford regulars include sophomore G Robert Cartwright (5.5 ppg, team-high 12 steals), sophomore G Marcus Sheffield (4.4 ppg) and sophomore C Josh Sharma (4.0 ppg, 2.5 rpg).
 
Saturday’s contest is a homecoming for Stanford first-year head coach Jerod Haase. A transfer from California, Haase played three seasons at KU from 1995-97 under head coach Roy Williams. From 1999-2003, Haase was on the KU staff as director of basketball operations. He then followed Williams to North Carolina where he was an assistant coach and director of basketball operations from 2003-09. He was then an assistant coach until taking the head coaching position at UAB from 2012-16. A 1997 Academic All-American at KU, Haase, who won two conference regular-season titles  (1996, 1997) as a player at Kansas, ranks 33rd on the KU career scoring list with 1,264 points. He was passed by Jayhawk senior Frank Mason III in KU’s last game. Haase led KU in 3-pointers made in 1995 and 1996 and also ranks tied for 11th in career 3-point field goals made (156) and 11th in steals (174).
 
THE SERIES
Kansas holds an 8-3 all-time series advantage with Stanford yet the Cardinal have won the last two meetings. The most recent matchup came in the round of 32 of the 2014 NCAA Tournament, a 60-57 Stanford win on March 23, 2014, in St, Louis. Stanford won the previous contest, 64-58, on Dec. 6, 2003, in Anaheim, California. This series dates back to 1932 and Kansas won the first four meetings. In 2002, in St. Louis, Kansas defeated Stanford 86-63 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. KU would later advance to the Final Four in Atlanta.
 
Only current Jayhawks Frank Mason III (22 minutes, two points) and Landen Lucas (two minutes, two points) played in the 2014 meeting versus Stanford.
 
Saturday’s game will be the first of four as the KU-Stanford series has been extended. The original agreement was for two years, with a game in the 2017-18 season slated to be played Dec. 21, 2017, at Golden 1 Center, in Sacramento, California. With Stanford’s appointment of former KU guard Jerod Haase as the Cardinal’s head coach, the two programs agreed on an extended series that includes games in 2018 and 2019. Stanford will return to Allen Fieldhouse on Dec. 1, 2018, and host the Jayhawks at Maples Pavilion on Dec. 29, 2019.
 
WHAT’S TRENDING
• Kansas has averaged 11.3 3-pointers made in its last four games.
• KU has 10 steals in two games this season, including 10 versus Long Beach State (11/29). KU is averaging 8.3 steals in its last four outings.
• The Jayhawks’ margin of victory has been 24.8 in their last four games.
• Senior G Frank Mason III has eight 20-point games for his career, including four this season. Mason has led KU in scoring in five of seven games this season.
• Junior G Devonte’ Graham has made 11 3-pointers in his last four games and is 11-for-26 (42.3 percent) from beyond the arc in that span.
• Freshman G Josh Jackson leads Kansas with a 5.7 rebound average. The last freshman to lead KU in rebounding was Joel Embiid (8.1 rpg) in 2014. Jackson’s eight blocked shots are second on the team, as are his 11 steals.
• Sophomore G Lagerald Vick is averaging 19.0 ppg in his last two games and is 15-for-16 from the field in that span with seven 3-pointers.
• Freshman C Udoka Azubuike has nine dunks this season, which is second to Jackson’s 10 on the KU team. Azubuike is 12-for-16 from the field in his last four games.
 
Not Bad Company
In his last game, senior G Frank Mason III passed current Stanford coach Jerod Haase on the KU scoring list. Mason is 32nd with 1,269 all-time points and 13th with 427 career assists. Mason is only the seventh Jayhawk to rank that high in both categories.
 
Name (KU seasons)    Rank/Points    Rank/Assists
Sherron Collins (2007-10)    1,888/5th      552/8th
Darnell Valentine (1978-81)  1,821/6th      609/5th
Kirk Hinrich (2000-03)         1,753/11th     668/4th
Kevin Pritchard (1987-90)    1,692/12th     499/10th
Tyshawn Taylor (2009-12)   1,580/15th     575/6th
Adonis Jordan (1990-93)      1,373/26th     568/7th
Frank Mason III (2014-pr)            1,261/32nd   427/13th
 
SOME THINGS TO LOOK FOR IN 2016-17
• Bill Self has 391 wins at KU (nine shy of 400), 598 overall (two shy of 600). When he won his 500th, Self tied for the ninth fastest in NCAA history. Entering 2016-17, Self coached 780 games, which is how many it took Phog Allen to win his 600th.
• KU is 747-109 all-time in Allen Fieldhouse, approaching win No. 750 in the venue.
• Kansas has the nation’s longest active home court winning streak at 45 games entering 2016-17; 43 of those in Allen Fieldhouse.
• KU has sold out of 246-straight games in Allen Fieldhouse, approaching 250.
• Kansas has won 2,192 all-time games, approaching 2,200, which is second all-time in NCAA history. Kentucky is first at 2,212 and North Carolina is third at 2,183.
• Entering the 2016-17 season, Kansas is the winningest program, by percentage, this decade: 1. KANSAS (216-43, 83.4%); 2. Kentucky (217-47, 82.2%); 3. Duke (210-47, 81.7%).
• Should Kansas advance to the 2017 NCAA Tournament it would be its 28th-consecutive NCAA tourney appearance. The current 27 straight is tied for the NCAA Tournament longest consecutive appearance streak with North Carolina (1975-2001).
 
THIS DATE IN KANSAS BASKETBALL HISTORY
Kansas is 17-4 on Dec. 3
Dec. 3, 1994: Up three points with 31 seconds’ remaining, KU guard Jacque Vaughn penetrated and kicked the ball out to Jerod Haase, who drained a three in Kansas’ 81-75 win against Massachusetts in the John Wooden Classic in Anaheim, California. Haase ended the contest with 16 points with his only 3-pointer giving KU a six-point cushion it was able to hold on to down the stretch. Raef LaFrentz led KU with 18 points and nine rebounds for the game, while Vaughn had 14 points and Scot Pollard scored 12 points in the victory. KU would go on to finish 25-6 and win the Big Eight regular-season title with an 11-3 league record.
 
UP NEXT
Kansas continues its six-game homestand when its hosts UMKC on Tuesday, Dec. 6 at 7 p.m., on Jayhawk TV/ESPN3. The Jayhawks will then host former league foe Nebraska on Dec. 10 at 2:15 p.m., on ESPN. KU will conclude the homestand when it plays Davidson in the Jayhawk Shootout at Sprint Center on Dec. 17, at 6 p.m., on ESPN2.