🏀 No. 1 Kansas to Open Regular Season Hosting North Carolina Central

LAWRENCE, Kan. – No. 1 Kansas will open up the 2023-24 season when it plays host to North Carolina Central on Nov. 6 at 7 p.m. (Central), in Allen Fieldhouse. The game will be televised on Big 12 NOW via ESPN+ with Steven Davis, Wayne Simien and Kennetra Pulliams on the broadcast.

TIPOFF

• Honoring KU alum and legendary coach John McLendon, Kansas Athletics will host the inaugural McLendon Classic over the weekend of Nov. 5-6 on the campus of the University of Kansas. IN addition to the game, KU will host the McLendon Classic Community Event at the Lied Center on Sunday, Nov. 5, at 5 p.m. CT.
• KU has won a mind-boggling 50-straight home openers, beginning in 1973-74 under head coach Ted Owens. KU coaches Larry Brown (5-0) and Roy Williams (15-0) never lost a home opener and Bill Self is 20-0.
• Kansas posted a 28-8 overall record in 2022-23 and won the Big 12 regular season title with a 13-5 league mark. North Carolina Central went 18-12 in 2022-23, including a 10-4 record in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) where the Eagles finished second.
• Kansas and North Carolina Central will meeting for the first time in men’s basketball. The Jayhawks are 8-0 all-time versus current MEAC teams and last faced a MEAC team defeating Howard, 96-68, in the opening round of the 2023 NCAA Tournament in Des Moines, Iowa.
• Kansas returns three starters – KJ Adams Jr., Dajuan Harris Jr. and Kevin McCullar Jr. – and eight letterwinners from last season. KU welcomes nine newcomers, including the 2023-24 coaches’ Big 12 Preseason Player of the Year and the Big 12 Preseason Newcomer of the Year Hunter Dickinson. Dickinson, Harris and McCullar were on the All-Big 12 Preseason team as well.
• Kansas is No. 1 in the Associated Press poll for the fourth time in poll history, with all four coming in the Bill Self era – 2004-05, 2009-10, 2018-19 and 2023-24.
• KU has been ranked in the AP top 10 in each of the last 39 polls dating back to the 2021-22 preseason poll. The 39 consecutive is the longest active streak in men’s college basketball.
• Including 2023-24, Kansas has been the Big 12 coaches’ choice to win the league 20 times in the 27-year history of the conference.

UP NEXT
Kansas will host Manhattan College on Friday, Nov. 10, at 7 p.m. Central. The game from Allen Fieldhouse will be televised on Big 12 NOW via ESPN+. Kansas and Manhattan will be meeting for the first time in men’s basketball.