No. 1 Jayhawks welcome Catamounts to Lawrence Monday

Freshman guard Quentin Grimes 

 GM 2: vs. Vermont
  Nov. 12
  8 p.m.
  Allen Fieldhouse (16,300)
  Watch
  Listen
  Live Stats
  Game Notes

 

 Stats KU VU
 Record 1-0 1-0
 Pts/GM 92.0 45.0
 FG% 44.9 27.6
 3FG% 43.5 72.7
 FT% 60.6 36.0
 Reb/GM 42.0 14.0
 Ast/GM 21.0 5.0
 Blk/GM 7.0 5.0
 Stl/GM 10.0 5.0
 Pts Allowed/GM 87.0 72.0
 FG% Defense 44.1 44.3
 3FG% Defense 52.2 29.4
 Rebound Margin +2.0 -1.0
 Ast-TO Ratio 1.9 2.0

 

LAWRENCE, Kan. – No. 1 Kansas will open the home portion of its 121st season of men’s basketball when it plays host to Vermont (1-0) on Monday, Nov. 12, at 8 p.m. (CT). The contest is a campus round meeting of the NIT Season Tip-Off and will be broadcast on ESPN2, with Tom Hart (play-by-play) and Fran Fraschilla (analyst) calling the action.
 
SALUTE TO SERVICE
With Veterans Day on Nov. 11 and being observed on Nov. 12, the Vermont contest will be a Salute to Service contest honoring those who serve and have served the United States of America military. Single-game tickets are available for upcoming games, including Vermont, with special Salute to Service ticket packages via www.KUAthletics.com/tickets

WATCH JAYHAWK GAMEDAY LIVE FROM ALLEN FIELDHOUSE
Jayhawk Gameday Live, a 30-minute pregame show and a 60-minute postgame show, will be live before KU’s match-up with Vermont Monday night at 7:30 p.m. (CT). Full postgame reaction and analysis will follow immediately after the game’s conclusion. The show will be available across the country on the ESPN app, as well as regionally on KMCI, Spectrum Sports, Midco Sports Network and Cox Cable. For more information on how to access Jayhawk Gameday Live as well as content from the Jayhawk Network, visit KUAthletics.com/JTV.
 
TIP-OFF

  • Kansas is 17-3 in the NIT and last participated in the event in 2002-03, where the Jayhawks finished fourth. Prior to this year, KU has played in five NITs in 1985-96, 1989-90, 1993-94, 1997-98 and 2002-03. KU has won three NIT titles in 1989, 1993 and 1997.
  • KU has won a mind-boggling 45-consecutive regular-season home openers in Allen Fieldhouse, a streak which started in the 1973-74 season.
  • Kansas won the only series meeting with Vermont, 68-61, on Nov. 19, 2004, in Allen Fieldhouse. The game opened the 2004-05 season for Kansas. Ironically, Kansas was also ranked No. 1 in the national polls to open the 2004-05 season.
  • Kansas opened the season with a 92-87 win against No. 10 Michigan State on Nov. 6 in the State Farm Champions Classic. The win improved KU to 4-4 in the event.
  • Kansas is looking to go 2-0 for the second-straight season and ninth time in Bill Self’s 16 seasons at KU.
  • Kansas won the only series meeting with Vermont, 68-61, on Nov. 19, 2005, in Allen Fieldhouse.
  • Entering Monday’s contest, KU has sold out of 275-straight games in Allen Fieldhouse, a streak that started the second game of the 2001-02 season.
  • Kansas returns two starters and six letterwinners from the squad that claimed the Jayhawks’ 14th-consecutive Big 12 regular-season title, the Big 12 Championship title and advanced to school’s 15th Final Four.
  • Junior forward Dedric Lawson was one of six listed on the Associated Press Preseason All-America Team. Lawson is also the Preseason Big 12 Newcomer of the Year and is on the preseason All-Big 12 First Team.

 
ABOUT KANSAS
Kansas opened the 2018-19 season with a 92-87 win against No. 10 Michigan State on Nov. 6, in the State Farm Champions Classic. Freshman guard Quentin Grimes led all scorers with 21 points, while redshirt junior forward Dedric Lawson posted a double-double with 20 points and 14 rebounds. Two other Jayhawks scored in double figures with junior center putting up 17 points with four blocked shots in 20 minutes and freshman guard Devon Dotson chipping in 16 points with three assists. Dotson and senior guard Lagerald Vick each had three assists in the victory.
 
Vick and Azubuike return as the starters. Vick is the lone senior on the team and he averaged 12.1 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists last season in earning All-Big 12 Honorable Mention honors. Azubuike, an All-Big 12 Second Team selection in 2017-18, is KU’s leading returning scorer at 13.0 ppg and rebounder at 7.0 rpg. He led the nation and set the KU and Big 12 single-season record for field goal percentage at 77.0 percent in 2017-18.
 
Sophomore guard Marcus Garrett (4.1 ppg, 3.4 ppg) started seven games last season. Other KU regular returners include junior forward Mitch Lightfoot (3.8 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 1.4 blocked shots per game) and sophomore forward Silvio De Sousa (4.0 ppg, 3.7 rpg).
 
Three transfers from last season will have an immediate impact in 2018-19. Dedric Lawson is the Preseason Big 12 Newcomer of the Year and on the Preseason All-Big 12 First Team. He averaged nearly a double-double in his two seasons at Memphis before coming to Kansas. His brother, K.J. Lawson, is a redshirt sophomore who also came from Memphis. He averaged 12.3 points and 8.3 rebounds at Memphis in 2016-17. Redshirt sophomore guard Charlie Moore started every game in 2016-17 while at California and averaged 12.2 points and 3.5 assists. 
 
Three of Kansas’ 2018-19 freshmen were McDonald’s All-Americans last year. Grimes heads the list as he is the Preseason Big 12 Freshman of the Year. The other two are Dotson and forward David McCormack.
 
ABOUT VERMONT
Located in Burlington, Vermont, with an enrollment of 10,080, Vermont opened the 2018-19 season with a 78-72 win at Boston University on Friday, Nov. 9. The Catamounts are coached by John Becker who is 167-77 in his eighth season at Vermont and 173-121 in his 10th season overall. Since Becker has been at Vermont, the Catamounts are the second winningest team in the northeast region, only trialing Connecticut.
 
For the third straight season, Vermont was the 2018-19 preseason choice to win the America East in a vote of the league coaches. Vermont is coming off a 27-8 season in which is won the America East Conference title with a 15-1 record. The Catamounts return one starter and 10 letterwinners from 2017-18.
 
In the win at Boston, starting sophomore G Steph Smith led all scorers with 22 points. Preseason All-America East selection Anthony Lamb, a junior forward starter, recorded a double-double with 19 points and 14 rebounds to go along with four blocked shots and three steals in the victory. Also a preseason all-league selection, redshirt senior G Ernie Duncan, who also started, scored 18 points and led Vermont with five assists, while freshman F Isiah Moll scored 12 points in the victory. Other Vermont starters in its opener included redshirt junior G Everett Duncan (three points) and sophomore F Ra Kpedi (two points, six rebounds). Freshman G Robin Duncan, brother of Ernie and Everett played nine minutes in the contest. Redshirt sophomore G Ben Shungu (two points, two assists) also saw significant playing time at Boston.
 
THE SERIES
Kansas won the only series meeting with Vermont, 68-61, on Nov. 19, 2004, in Allen Fieldhouse. The game opened the 2004-05 season for Kansas. Ironically, Kansas was also ranked No. 1 in the national polls to open the 2004-05 season.
 
In the 2004 meeting, Vermont led 58-56 with 3:32 to play before KU’s J.R. Giddens nailed a 3-pointer to give the Jayhawks the lead for good. All-American Wayne Simien posted a double-double with a game-high 25 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. Senior Keith Langford and freshman Darnell Jackson added 12 points each while senior Aaron Miles dished out a game-high nine assists to go along with seven rebounds.
 
FIELDHOUSE OPENERS
Opponents have not fared well when playing the Jayhawks in the first regular-season game played inside Allen Fieldhouse over the past half century. Kansas has won a mind-boggling 45-consecutive regular-season home openers dating back to the 1973-74 season.
 
The Jayhawks’ last loss to open a season at AFH came against Vanderbilt on Dec. 2, 1972, 64-72. Kansas is 62-1 all-time in home openers at Allen Fieldhouse.
 
A KANSAS WIN WOULD…
Make Kansas 2-0 for the second-straight season and ninth time in head coach Bill Self’s 16 seasons at KU … Give Kansas its 46th-consecutive home opening victory, a streak which started in 1973-74 … Make Kansas 18-3 in the NIT Season Tip Off … Make Kansas 2-0 all-time versus Vermont … Make Kansas 773-113 all-time in Allen Fieldhouse, including 235-13 under Self … Make Self 449-96 while at Kansas and 656-201 overall … Make Kansas 2,250-849 all-time.
 
A KANSAS LOSS WOULD…
Make Kansas 1-1 for the eighth time in the Bill Self era … End a mind-boggling 45-game home opening winning streak for the Jayhawks, a run which started in 1973-74 … Tie the Kansas-Vermont series at 1-1 … Make Kansas 17-4 all-time in the NIT Season Tip Off … Make Kansas 772-114 all-time in Allen Fieldhouse, including 234-14 under Self … Make Self 448-97 while at Kansas and 655-202 overall … Make Kansas 2,249-850 all-time.
 
NIT HISTORY
Kansas is 17-3 in the NIT Season Tip off having won event three times – 1989, 1993 and 1997. The Jayhawks placed second in 1985 and fourth in 2002. In the early format, KU has advanced to the event’s semifinals and finals/consolation finals in Madison Square Garden all five times it has played in it.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Kansas newcomers Dedric Lawson, Quentin Grimes and Devon Dotson impressed in their debuts in the crimson and blue, propelling the No. 1 Jayhawks past No. 10 Michigan State in a 92-87 win at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in the State Farm Champions Classic.
 
Grimes, a freshman, scored 21 points on 7-of-14 shooting, leading the Jayhawks in scoring. Lawson, a redshirt junior transfer from Memphis, put up a double-double in his KU debut with 20 points and 14 rebounds while leading the team in assists with six. Another freshman guard, Dotson ended the game with 16 points and three assists, shooting 6-of-11.
 
KU’s 14-point halftime was cut down in the second as the Jayhawks only had a three point lead with 34 seconds left in the game. Grimes and Dotson each made one of two free throws to make it a two-possession game with under 20 seconds left to bolster the Jayhawks to a win.
 
The veteran play of junior big man Udoka Azubuike powered the Jayhawks down low in the paint, scoring 17 points, while leading the Jayhawks on defense with four blocks.
 
The win marks the first for the Jayhawks against the Spartans in the Champions Classic, dating back to the event’s inception in 2011, and also marks the third-straight victory for KU, beating Kentucky 65-61 in 2017 and Duke 77-75 in 2016.
 
MICHIGAN STATE NOTABLES

  • The win made Kansas 1-0 for the 15th time in head coach Bill Self’s 16 seasons at KU.
  • Kansas improved to 4-4 in the Champions Classic, giving KU its third-straight win in the event.
  • The win gave the Jayhawks at least one win over an Associated Press top-10 team for the fourth-straight season and the 15th year in Bill Self’s 16 seasons.
  • Kansas’ record improved to 22-10 as the AP’s No. 1-ranked team when playing a ranked opponent and 12-3 since 2010.
  • The win improved the Jayhawks’ record to 26-6 at neutral sites since 2015-16.
  • Dedric Lawson’s 11 first-half rebounds moved him into a tie with Thomas Robinson (second half vs. Kentucky, 4/2/2012) for fourth-most rebounds in a half by a KU player since 1988-89. Eric Chenowith leads with 14 (second half vs. Texas A&M, 1/14/1998).
  • Dedric Lawson is just the fifth Jayhawk (records dating back to 1988-89) to record a double-double in his Kansas debut. Other Jayhawks to record double-doubles in their career debut include Marcus Garrett (10 points, 10 rebounds vs. Tennessee State, 11/10/2017), David Padgett (13 points, 10 rebounds vs. UT Chatanooga, 11/21/2003) and Wayne Simien (10 points, 11 rebounds vs. Wake Forest, 12/4/2001).
  • With Quentin Grimes and Devon Dotson both starting, the last time KU started two freshmen was Dec. 17, 2016, when Udoka Azubuike and Josh Jackson started versus Davidson.

 
THIS DAY IN KANSAS BASKETBALL HISTORY
NOV. 12, 2013: The No. 5-ranked Jayhawks claimed their first victory at the State Farm Champions Classic with a 94-83 win over the No. 4 Duke Blue Devils in Chicago’s United Center. Sophomore forward Perry Ellis and freshman guard Andrew Wiggins combined for 46 points in the win, while freshman guard Frank Mason III came off the bench to add 15 points of his own.  The 2013-14 Jayhawks went on to finish with a 25-10 record and claimed its 10th-straight Big 12 regular-season title with a 14-4 record.
 
UP NEXT
Kansas will host Louisiana on Friday, Nov. 16, at 7 p.m. on Jayhawk TV and ESPN+. This series is tied with Louisiana winning the first meeting, 54-45, on Dec. 29, 1983, and Kansas winning the most recent match-up, 96-51, on Dec. 11, 2004.
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