🏀MBB: Jayhawks to host Cowboys in Big 12 opener Saturday

LAWRENCE, Kan. – No. 4 Kansas (11-1) hosts Oklahoma State (8-4) on Saturday, Dec. 31, at 1 p.m. (Central) in the Big 12 opener for both teams. The contest from Allen Fieldhouse will be televised on CBS with Rich Waltz and Clark Kellogg calling the action.

TIPOFF

1. Kansas has a four-game winning streak after its 68-54 win against Harvard on Dec. 22. Oklahoma State has won two straight after its 81-58 win versus Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Dec. 20.
2. Last season, Kansas became the all-time winningest program in NCAA Division I, currently at 2,368 victories.
3. Kansas has won a mind-boggling 31-straight conference openers dating back to the 1991-92 season, with 12 of those at home in Allen Fieldhouse and 19 on the road. The last time Kansas lost a league opener was at Oklahoma, 88-82, on Jan. 8, 1991.
4. The Kansas-Oklahoma State series dates back to 1926 with KU holding a 121-60 all-time advantage. KU has won three straight and eight of the last nine versus OSU.
5. Kansas has appeared in the Associated Press top 10 in each of the last 27 polls dating back to the 2021-22 preseason poll. The 27 consecutive is the longest active streak in men’s college basketball.
6. Kansas is No. 5 in the NET rankings through games played on Dec. 27. Kansas is first among Big 12 teams with Texas at No. 9 and West Virginia at No. 11. KU’s four Quadrant 1 wins are tied for the most nationally.
7. Kansas is second in the conference in assists (18.2), which is 13th nationally, in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.47) and steals per game (9.8).
8. Redshirt-junior Jalen Wilson leads the conference in scoring at 21.1 ppg, which is 13th nationally. He also leads the Big 12 with six double-doubles, which is 10th nationally.
9. Redshirt-junior Dajuan Harris Jr. has 39 assists and nine turnovers in his last five games. He is second in the Big 12, sixth nationally, in assists per game at 6.6.
10. Redshirt-senior Kevin McCullar Jr. leads the Big 12 in steals (2.7), which is seventh nationally.

UP NEXT

Kansas will play its first conference road contest of the 2022-23 season at Texas Tech on Tuesday, Jan. 3. Tip from United Supermarkets Arena will be at 8 p.m. (Central) and the game will be televised on ESPN2.

Kansas leads the overall series with Texas Tech, 41-7, including a 31-7 record in Big 12 regular-season contests. KU is 12-4 in United Supermarkets Arena but the series is 2-2 in the last four meetings in the venue.