No. 7 Kansas Travels to UCF Sunday

LAWRENCE, Kan. — No. 7 Kansas (9-3, 0-1 Big 12) continues Big 12 play at UCF (10-2, 1-0 Big 12) on Sunday, Jan. 5, at 3 p.m. CT. The game will be played at Financial Arena and will be televised on ESPN+.

Kansas is coming off a 62-61 loss to West Virginia in its Big 12 opener on Dec. 31. UCF has won six straight games after its conference opener, an 87-63 win at Texas Tech on Dec. 31.

Kansas and UCF met for the first time in men's basketball last season, resulting in a 65-60 win for the Knights in Orlando, Jan. 10, 2024.

KU is No. 21 in the NET report by the NCAA through games of Jan. 1. The No. 21 rank is fourth in the Big 12 behind No. 5 Houston, No. 6 Iowa State and No. 17 Baylor.

Kansas averages 77.7 points per game and has a +12.0 scoring margin. KU pulls down 37.8 rebounds per contest with a +5.0 rebound margin. Kansas is making 49.1% from the field, which is third in the Big 12 and 35th nationally, including 35.5% from three-point range. KU ranks third in the Big 12 and 18th nationally in assists average at 18.1 and also averages 6.8 steals and 4.5 blocked shots per game.

Coming off his fourth-straight and seventh double-double of the season with 10 points and 12 rebounds against West Virginia (12/32), graduate C Hunter Dickinson leads Kansas in scoring at 15.1 ppg and rebounding at 10.4 rpg. A three-time Big 12 Player of the Week, Dickinson leads the Big 12 in double-doubles (7), which is seventh nationally, and is second in rebounds per game (10.4), which is 10th nationally. Dickinson also leads KU with 17 blocked shots and he has 17 steals.

Senior G Zeke Mayo is averaging 26.0 points in his last three games after his season-high 27 points against West Virginia (12/31). For his 27-point performance in Kansas' last outing, Mayo went a perfect 13-of-13 from the free throw line, tying his career high FTM. The last Jayhawk to go a perfect 13-of-13 from the FT line was Devonte' Graham on Jan. 2, 2018 vs. Texas Tech. The 13 made free throws ties the most free throws made in a game without a miss in program history. A two-time Big 12 Newcomer of the Week, Mayo is averaging 14.7 points per game on the season and has made a team-high 26 threes. He is second on the team with 38 assists and pulls down 4.0 rebounds per contest. Mayo has scored 25 or more points in three-straight games, joining Drew Gooden (2001-02) and Ochai Agbaji (2021-22) as the only Jayhawks since 1996-97 to record three-straight games of 25+ points.

Graduate G Dajuan Harris Jr. is a four-year starter who is averaging 10.3 points, and he leads the Big 12 in assist-to-turnover ratio at 3.63, which is 10th nationally, and is second in assists per game at 5.8, which is 33rd nationally. Senior F KJ Adams is a starter who is scoring 8.8 points per game. Adams has 25 assists, 12 blocked shots and seven steals. Junior G AJ Storr has started four games, and he is scoring 7.3 points per contest. Storr has made 10 threes this season. Junior G Rylan Griffen is third on the team with 13 threes made. He is averaging 6.5 ppg and has started seven games this season. After his career-high 11 rebounds against West Virginia (12/31), freshman F Flory Bidunga is second on the team with a 5.4 rebound average. Bidunga averages 6.3 points per game, has 10 blocked shots and is shooting 82.9 percent (34-41) from the field.

Senior G David Coit has three starts in 2024-25 and he is second on the team with 16 threes made. Coit averages 5.6 points per game. Other KU regulars include graduate G Shakeel Moore (1.8 ppg), redshirt-junior F Zach Clemence (1.4 ppg) and freshman G Rakease Passmore (1.3 ppg).

UP NEXT
Kansas returns home to host new Big 12 member Arizona State on Wednesday, Jan. 8. Tip from Allen Fieldhouse will be at 8 p.m. (Central) and the game will be televised on ESPN2.

Arizona State leads the overall series with Kansas, 6-5, and the Sun Devils have won the last two meetings. KU is 2-1 against ASU in Allen Fieldhouse.

University of Kansas Athletics

Players Mentioned

KJ Adams

Flory Bidunga

Zach Clemence

David Coit

Hunter Dickinson

Rylan Griffen

Dajuan Harris Jr.

Zeke Mayo

Shakeel Moore

Rakease Passmore

AJ Storr

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