LAWRENCE, Kan. – No. 7 Kansas (15-3, 3-2 Big 12) men’s basketball plays host to Cincinnati (13-5, 2-3) on ESPN Big Monday, Jan. 22. Tip from Allen Fieldhouse will be at 8 p.m. CT and the game will be televised on ESPN.
At halftime of the Cincinnati contest, Kansas will retire the jersey of Bill “Skinny” Johnson who wore No. 33 while playing at KU from 1931-33.
Sponsored by Coaches vs. Cancer and the American Cancer Society, Jan. 22-28 is Suits And Sneakers week. The annual week-long event encourages cancer screening and bringing awareness to the fight against cancer.
Kansas is looking to rebound from a 91-85 loss at West Virginia on Jan. 20. Cincinnati is coming off a 69-65 loss to No. 15 Oklahoma on Jan. 20. Kansas leads the overall series with Cincinnati, 4-3. The two teams last met in 1996 in Chicago, a KU 72-65 win.
Kansas enters Monday’s matchup averaging 79.5 points per game with a plus-11.8 scoring margin. The Jayhawks pull down 37.3 rebounds per outing with a plus-5.1 rebound margin. Kansas leads the nation in assists per game at 21.0. KU leads the Big 12 and is fourth nationally in field goal percentage (51.0%). KU also averages 7.4 steals and 4.5 blocked shots per contest.
Graduate G Kevin McCullar Jr. leads the Big 12 in scoring at 20.0 points per game, which is 27th nationally. His two triple-doubles are the most amongst the NCAA. McCullar also leads KU with 28 three-point field goals made. His 6.4 rebounds per game are second on the team and he ranks in 11 Big 12 statistical categories.
Senior C Hunter Dickinson leads the Big 12 and is fifth nationally in rebounds per game at 11.3. He has three double-doubles in his last six games and his 10 double-doubles lead the Big 12 and are eighth nationally. A five-time Big 12 weekly award honoree this season, Dickinson is the only player in the Big 12 averaging a double-double. He also leads KU with 26 blocked shots and has 22 steals.
Junior F KJ Adams Jr. leads the Big 12 and is 19th nationally in field goal percentage at 62.3%. Adams is averaging 14.0 points and 7.0 rebounds in Big 12 play and 12.7 points and 5.0 rebounds for the season. He has 58 assists in 2023-24.
Redshirt-senior G Dajuan Harris Jr. leads the Big 12 with 6.8 assists per game, which is eighth nationally. Harris averages 7.0 points per contest and has a team-high 26 steals. Freshman G Johnny Furphy (6.6 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 22 threes made) has started the last three games and is averaging 11.7 ppg and 5.7 rpg with seven threes made in that span.
Other KU regulars include freshman G Elmarko Jackson (4.8 ppg, 43 assists, 15 starts), graduate-senior G Nicolas Timberlake (4.0 ppg, 13 3FGs), graduate-senior F Parker Braun (2.8 ppg, 15 blocked shots) and freshman G Jamari McDowell (1.7 ppg).
UP NEXT
Kansas plays at Iowa State on Saturday, Jan. 27, at 12:30 p.m. CT. The contest from Hilton Coliseum will be televised on CBS. This will be the only regular-season meeting between the two schools in 2023-24.
Kansas leads the overall series with Iowa State, 189-67, including a 72-41 mark in games played in Ames, 28-23 in Hilton Coliseum. Kansas has won eight of the last nine meetings with Iowa State.
