🏀 Ranked Foes to Square Off in Morgantown Saturday in Men’s Hoops
LAWRENCE, Kan. – No. 23/22 Kansas (12-6, 6-4) hits the road to face No. 17/18 West Virginia (12-5, 5-3) on Saturday, Feb. 6. The game will begin at 1 p.m. (CT) and will be televised on CBS.
Kansas is coming off a 74-51 win against Kansas State on Feb. 2, in the Dillons Sunflower Showdown. West Virginia has won three of its last four games after its 76-72 win at Iowa State on Feb. 2.
The Kansas-West Virginia series started when the Mountaineers joined the Big 12 Conference in 2012-13 and KU holds a 15-5 advantage – 12-5 in conference play and 3-0 in the Big 12 Championship. The Jayhawks have won five straight and nine of the last 10 meetings, including 79-65 win on Dec. 22, 2020, in Allen Fieldhouse.
KANSAS NOTABLES
- West Virginia will be the ninth ranked team Kansas will face in 2020-21. KU is 4-4 versus ranked foes this season.
- Kansas is tied for the Big 12 lead in blocked shots at 4.2 per game and ranks in the upper half of 11 conference statistical categories.
- Kansas has outrebounded 12-of-18 opponents in 2020-21.
- Kansas has won the assists battle in 14-of-18 games this season.
- Senior Marcus Garrett has 158 career steals which ranks 19th on the KU all-time list. Garrett is three thefts from the KU top 15.
- With three blocked shots against Washburn (12/3), redshirt-senior Mitch Lightfoot became the 21st player in KU history to record 100 career blocked shots. Lightfoot currently has 115 blocked shots, which is 16th on the KU all-time swats list.
- Kansas is 15-2 when junior Ochai Agbaji makes three or more 3-pointers in a game: 2-0 as a freshman, 6-0 as a sophomore and 7-2 in 2020-21.
- Junior David McCormack is averaging 13.4 points and 6.0 rebounds per game in league play. Overall, McCormack averages 12.3 ppg and 5.7 rpg.
- KU is 11-1 when sophomore Christian Braun makes three or more 3-pointers: 7-0 as a freshman and 4-1 in 2020-21.
- Kansas enters the West Virginia contest No. 4 in NET strength of schedule, which is first in the Big 12. The Jayhawks have led NCAA Division I in NET SOS each of the last two seasons and five times under head coach Bill Self (2005, 2014, 2015, 2019, 2020).
- Junior Ochai Agbaji is second in the Big 12 in 3-point field goals made per game at 2.6 and is second in 3-point field goal percentage at 39.0%. Agbaji has made 33 threes in his last 12 games.
- Senior Marcus Garrett and junior Ochai Agbaji have been named to national player mid-season watch lists. Garrett is one of 15 on the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year, while Agbaji is a Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Award top 10 candidate. Garrett was the 2020 Naismith DPOY.
- With the consecutive weeks being ranked at 231, which is an NCAA record, the Kansas-West Virginia contest will be the 433rd-straight game KU will play as a ranked team, a streak which started Feb. 2, 2009.
- Four of Kansas’ six losses this season have been to ranked teams and the other two losses are to teams that have moved into the top 25 of either the Associated Press or Coaches’ polls.
UP NEXT
Kansas returns home to host Oklahoma State on ESPN Big Monday, Feb. 8, at 8 p.m. (Central). Kansas leads the overall series with Oklahoma State, 118-60, including a 64-12 record in meetings in Lawrence, 49-10 in Allen Fieldhouse. OSU won the first meeting earlier this season, 75-70, on Jan. 12, 2021, in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
