No. 2 Jayhawks look to tame Ragin’ Cajuns Friday

RS-Sophomore guard Charlie Moore 

LAWRENCE, Kan. – No. 2 Kansas (2-0) continues its two-game homestand hosting Louisiana (1-1) on Friday, Nov. 16, at Allen Fieldhouse. The Jayhawks are coming off an 84-68 win versus Vermont in its regular-season home opener on Nov. 12 in a campus round game of the NIT Season Tip-Off. KU and the Ragin’ Cajuns will square off on Jayhawk Network and ESPN+ with Dave Armstrong (play-by-play) and Chris Piper (analyst) calling the action.

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 Louisiana Friday night starting at 6:30 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 looking to go 3-0 for the second-straight season and eighth time in Bill Self’s 16 seasons at KU.
• Kansas and Louisiana are 1-1 in all-time meetings. UL defeated KU in New Orleans, 54-45 in 1983 and Kansas won the most recent, a 96-51 win in 2004 at Allen Fieldhouse.
• Louisiana is one of five opponents on the 2018-19 KU schedule that does not have a losing record against the Jayhawks. The others are Michigan State (7-7, after Nov. 6), Villanova (4-3), Arizona State (5-5) and Kentucky (22-9).
• Senior G Lagerald Vick’s 32 points against Vermont (11/12) marked the 29th time in Bill Self’s 15-plus seasons at KU a Jayhawk has scored 30 or more points. The feat happened four times last season, two by Devonte’ Graham and two by Malik Newman.
• Junior F Dedric Lawson was named the Big 12 Player of the Week on Nov. 12, while freshman G Quentin Grimes was the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week. KU leads the Big 12 with 120 combined weekly honors in the 22-year history of the conference.
• With its win versus Vermont (11/12), KU has won a mind-boggling 46-consecutive regular-season home openers in Allen Fieldhouse, a streak which started in the 1973-74 season.
• The victory over the Catamounts also marked the 40th-straight KU win inside Allen Fieldhouse during the month of November, a streak which began in 2006.
• Kansas returns two starters and six letterwinners from last season’s 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.

 
ABOUT KANSAS
No. 2 Kansas is 2-0 for the second-straight season and ninth time under head coach Bill Self after its 84-68 win against Vermont on Nov. 12 in a campus round game of the NIT Season Tip Off. Through two games, Kansas leads the Big 12 in 3-point field goal percentage at 52.4 percent and assists with a 20.0 average. KU averages 88.0 points and has a +10.5 scoring margin. The Jayhawks make 11.0 3-pointers per game and have a +6.0 rebound margin.
 
The Jayhawks are led by junior C Udoka Azubuike who is averaging 20.0 points per game after his double-double (23 points, 11 rebounds) against Vermont. Azubuike is second on the team with 7.0 rebounds per contest and leads KU with five blocked shots.
 
Senior G Lagerald Vick is coming off a career-high 32 points against Vermont in which he set the KU single-game record by going 8-for-8 from 3-point range. Vick is averaging 17.0 points in two games and is second on the team with four steals.
 
Freshman G Quentin Grimes, who was named Big 12 Newcomer of the Week Nov. 12, leads Kansas with 14 assists in two games, which included 10 versus Vermont (11/12) in posting a double-double with 10 points. Grimes, who averages 17.0 points per game, is tied with Vick for most 3-point field goals made with eight in two outings.
 
Freshman G Devon Dotson is a starter who averages 11.5 points and 4.0 rebounds per game. He is 4-for-7 (57.1 percent) from 3-point range in his first two contests. Junior F Dedric Lawson, who was named Big 12 Player of the Week Nov. 12, rounds out the starters. Lawson is one of four Big 12 players averaging a double-double at 10.0 points and 10.5 rebounds.
 
Other KU regulars include sophomore G Marcus Garrett (4.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg), redshirt sophomore G Charlie Moore (4.0 ppg, 2.0 rpg), freshman F David McCormack (3.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg), junior F Mitch Lightfoot (2.5 ppg) and redshirt sophomore g K.J. Lawson (2.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg).
 
ABOUT LOUISIANA
Located in Lafayette, Louisiana, with an enrollment of 19,387, Louisiana is 1-1 on the season after its 87-65 loss at No. 5 Tennessee on Nov. 9. The Ragin’ Cajuns are coached by Bob Marlin who is 156-112 in his ninth season at UL. UL averages 93.0 points per game and has a +9.5 scoring margin. The Ragin’ Cajuns make 11 3-pointers per game, shoot 44.9 percent from 3-point range and average 14.0 assists per contest.
 
Senior F JaKeenan Gant leads the team in scoring at 18.5 points per game. Gant also leads the squad with a 66.7 field goal percentage (16-for-24) and with four blocked shots. Senior G/F Malik Marquetti leads the team in rebounds with 7.0 per game and scores 13.5 points per contest. Junior G Jeremy Hayes comes off the bench to average 10.5 points per game, which is the same as junior F Justin Miller.
 
Sophomore G Cedric Russell is a starter who has made a team-high five 3-pointers in two games. Miller scores 9.5 points per outing. Senior G Marcus Stroman (9.5 ppg) leads Louisiana with 19 assists and four steals. Other UL regulars include junior F Jerekius Davis (8.0 ppg), freshman G Trajen Wesley (4.5 ppg) and junior G P.J. Hardy (2.5 rpg).
 
THE SERIES
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. The first meeting was the first season for KU head coach Larry Brown and was the title game of the Sugar Bowl Tournament in New Orleans. The second meeting was under current KU coach Bill Self and Kansas was ironically ranked No. 2 by Associated Press for that contest.
 
A KANSAS WIN WOULD…
Make Kansas 3-0 for the second-straight season and eighth time in head coach Bill Self’s 16 seasons at KU … Give KU its 41st-consecutive win at Allen Fieldhouse in the month of November, a streak which began in 2006 … Make Kansas 2-1 all-time versus Louisiana, giving KU a two-game series winning streak … Make Kansas 774-113 all-time in Allen Fieldhouse, including 236-13 under Self … Make Self 450-96 while at Kansas and 657-201 overall … Make Kansas 2,251-849 all-time.
 
A KANSAS LOSS WOULD…
Make Kansas 2-1 for the eighth time in the Bill Self era … Give Louisiana a 2-1 series advantage over Kansas … End a Kansas five-game home court winning streak … Hand KU its first November loss in Allen Fieldhouse since 2006, when Kansas fell to Oral Roberts, ending a streak of 40-straight victories … Make Kansas 773-114 all-time in Allen Fieldhouse, including 235-14 under Self … Make Self 449-97 while at Kansas and 656-202 overall … Make Kansas 2,250-850 all-time.
 
VERMONT NOTABLES

• KU’s 81-66 victory over Vermont marks the Jayhawks’ 46th-consecutive regular season home opener in Allen Fieldhouse, a streak that dates back to the 1973-74 season.
• The Jayhawks improved to 2-0 for the second-straight season and ninth time in Bill Self’s 16 seasons at Kansas.
• Lagerald Vick (32) and Udoka Azubuike (23) combined 55 points, the most points by a Jayhawk duo since Devonte’ Graham (35) and Vick (20) scored 55 against Syracuse on Dec. 2, 2017.
• Quentin Grimes and Azubuike’s double-doubles mark the first time a pair of Jayhawks has notched double-doubles since March 10, 2018, against West Virginia in the Big 12 Championship title game last season. Devonte’ Graham posted 18 points and 13 assists and Silvio De Sousa had 16 points and 10 rebounds in that contest.
• The Jayhawks’ 63.2 percent (12-19) clip from 3-point range was the team’s best since hitting 69.2 percent (9-13) against New Mexico State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on March 20, 2015.
• Combing the final 1:49 of the first half and the first 6:25 of the second half, the Jayhawks outscored the Catamounts 20-4, going 9-13 from the field and 2-3 from beyond the arc during that stretch.
• Vick’s eight 3-pointers marked his career-high for treys made in a single game and tied for the second most in KU history (11 by Terry Brown vs. N.C. State, 1-5-91; 8 by Mario Chalmers vs. Texas, 3-16-08; and 8 by Billy Thomas vs. Texas, 1-10-98).
• Vick’s eight treys also set a Kansas record for most 3-pointers made without a miss. Ben McLemore previously held the record going 6-for-6 from the 3-point line against Iowa State in on Jan. 9, 2013.
• Vick’s 32 points on 12-of-14 shooting, surpass his previous career high of 28 versus Washington (12/6) set last season.
• Vick’s 32 points were the most by a Jayhawk since Malik Newman had 32 versus Duke in last season’s NCAA Tournament Regional Final.
• Vick also surpassed the 800-point plateau as he has 809 career points while at Kansas.

 
30-POINT GAMES UNDER SELF
Senior G Lagerald Vick scored a career-high 32 points against Vermont (11/12), and in the process he set the KU game record for most 3-pointers made without a miss going 8-for-8. His eight treys also tied for the second-most ever made by a Jayhawk in a game. The 32 points marked the 29th time a Jayhawk has scored 30 or more points in a game in the Bill Self era.
 
Just eight Jayhawks have posted multiple 30-point outings in a career since Self took over in 2003-04. Wayne Simien tallied four 30-point performances during his time in Lawrence, two apiece in his junior and senior seasons. Frank Mason III scored 30 points three times, all during his National Player of the Year campaign in 2016-17. Ben McLemore also hit 30 three times, all coming in his one season with the Jayhawks in 2012-13.
 
Last season, both Devonte’ Graham and Malik Newman hit the 30-point plateau on two occasions.
 
TOUGH COMPETITION
Many talk about how tough the Kansas schedule is for 2018-19. One look at KU’s non-conference opponents shows that six foes were preseason selections in their respective league races, with an additional five picked for second-place finishes.
 

 
 
UP NEXT
Kansas will face Marquette in the semifinals of the NIT Season Tip-Off, Wednesday, Nov. 21, at 6 p.m. (CT) inside the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. The game will be televised on ESPN2.
 
Kansas is 6-1 all-time versus Marquette with the last meeting on April 5, 2003, in the Final Four in New Orleans, a 94-61 KU win.
 
After its win versus Vermont (11/12), Kansas is 18-3 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.
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