#23/25 KANSAS AT BYU

LINE: BYU -3.5

WHERE:

Provo, Utah * Marriott Center (17,978)

WHEN:

Tuesday, February 18, 2025 * 8 p.m. (CT)

TV:

ESPN

Play-by-Play: Roxy Bernstein

Analyst: Sean Farnham

Producer: Joe McCoy

Director: Bradley Sheldon

TIPOFF:

— No. 23/25 Kansas (17-8, 8-6 Big 12) concludes its two-game road trip at BYU (17-8, 8-6 Big 12) on Tuesday, Feb. 18. Tip from Marriott Center in Provo, Utah, is set for 8 p.m. Central and the game will be televised on ESPN with Roxy Berstein and Sean Farnham calling the action.

— Kansas is coming off a 74-67 loss at Utah on Feb. 15. BYU won its second-straight game with an 80-65 win against Kansas State on Feb. 15. The Cougars are 12-2 at home this season.

— Kansas leads the all-time series with BYU, 4-2, and BYU won the only meeting in Provo, Utah, 80-70, on Dec. 20, 1960. Kansas has won three of the last four meetings but BYU won the last matchup, 76-68, last season on Feb. 27, 2024 in Lawrence.

— KU is 129-21 (86.0%) following a loss in the Bill Self era, including 6-1 this season.

— Kansas is No. 15 in the NET report by the NCAA through games of Feb. 16. To show the strength of the Big 12, the No. 15 rank is fifth in the Big 12 behind No. 3 Houston, No. 7 Texas Tech, No. 8 Iowa State and No. 9 Arizona. KU’s strength of schedule is No. 14 nationally, which is fourth in the league.

— Kansas leads the Big 12 and is 26th nationally in blocked shots per game at 4.9. KU is second in the Big 12, eighth nationally, in assists per game at 17.9, in field goal percentage defense at 38.6% (10th nationally), assist to-turnover ratio at 1.59 (20th nationally) and three-point field goal percentage defense at 29.2% (10th nationally).

— Graduate C Hunter Dickinson leads the Big 12 in field goals made with 169. He is second in the Big 12 in rebound average (9.5), which is 20th nationally.

— Graduate G Dajuan Harris Jr. is second in the Big 12 in assist-to-turnover ratio at 3.35, which is ninth nationally. He is also second in the league in assists per game at 5.7, which is 30th nationally.

— With the 86-51 win against Furman on Nov. 30, Kansas won its 2,400th all-time game, currently at 2,409, becoming only the second school to achieve 2,400 wins. ABOUT KANSAS:

No. 23/25 Kansas (17-8, 8-6 Big 12) is coming off a 74-67 loss. The Jayhawks average 76.0 points per game with a +9.4 scoring margin. KU pulls down 38.8 rebounds per contest with a +4.4 rebound margin. Kansas is making 47.5% from the field, including 34.3% from three-point range. KU leads the Big 12 in blocked shots per game at 4.9 per game, which is 26th nationally.

KU is second in the conference in assists per game at 17.9, which is eighth nationally, second in field goal percentage defense at 38.6%, which is 10th nationally, second in three-point field goal percentage defense at 29.2%, which is 10th nationally, and second in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.59, which is 20th nationally. KU also averages 6.2 steals per game.

Graduate C Hunter Dickinson has eight 20-point efforts on the season and leads Kansas in scoring at 16.4 ppg, which ranks fifth in the Big 12. Dickinson also leads KU in rebounding at 9.5 rpg, which is second in the Big 12 and is 20th nationally. A three-time Big 12 Player of the Week, Dickinson is second in the Big 12 in double-doubles (9), which is 30th nationally. Dickinson is second on the team with 38 blocked shots and is also second on the team with 24 steals.

Senior G Zeke Mayo is next in scoring at 15.0 points per contest and he leads Kansas with 62 threes made. He has made 18 threes in his last five games. A two-time Big 12 Newcomer of the Week, Mayo is second on the team with 78 assists and pulls down 5.0 rebounds per contest.

Graduate G Dajuan Harris Jr. has 39 assists in his last six games. A four-year starter, Harris is averaging 9.8 points per game. At Baylor (2/1), Harris moved into second on the Big 12 career assists list, currently at 813, which is second on the KU career list. Harris is second in the Big 12 in assist-to-turnover ratio at 3.34, which is ninth nationally, and second in the conference in assists per game at 5.7, which is 30th nationally.

Senior F KJ Adams is a starter who is scoring 8.3 points per game. Adams pulls down 4.6 rebounds per game and has 53 assists, 18 blocked shots and 21 steals.

Freshman F Flory Bidunga has two double-doubles in Big 12 play and he leads Kansas with 40 blocked shots. Bidunga is second on the team with a 5.4 rebound average, scores 6.7 points per game. He is shooting 75.8 percent (72-for-95) from the field. Junior

G Rylan Griffen is second on the team with 31 threes made. He has started 12 games this season and is averaging 6.5 points per contest.

Junior G AJ Storr has started four games and he is scoring 6.3 points per contest.

Senior G David Coit has three starts and he is third on the team with 27 threes made. Coit averages 4.4 points per game.

Graduate G Shakeel Moore has started nine games and is averaging 3.7 points per contest.

ABOUT BYU:

Located in Provo, Utah, BYU (17-8, 8-6 Big 12) has won two straight games after its 80-65 win against Kansas State on Feb. 15. The Cougars are coached by Kevin Young who is in 17-8 in his first season at BYU and his first season as a head coach.

BYU is 12-2 at home this season. Overall, BYU averages 79.8 points per contest with a plus-10.8 scoring margin. The Cougars pull down 37.4 rebounds per contest with a plus-6.7 rebound margin, BYU leads the Big 12 in three-point field goals made per game at 10.4, which is 13th nationally, and three-point field goals attempted per contest at 28.5, which is 22nd nationally, BYU also averages 16.8 assists, 7.0 steals and 3.3 blocked shots per game.

Junior G Richie Saunders leads BYU in scoring at 15.0 points per game. He has made a team-high 53 threes and 29 steals. Freshman

G Egor Demin is next in scoring at 11.0 points per game. He has a team-high 121 assists and is second on the team with 27 steals.

Senior G Trevin Knell is second on the team with 50 three pointers made and he scores 9.2 points per game with 25 steals.

Senior F Fousseyni Traore scores 8.8 points per contest and he is second on the team with a 5.7 rebounds per game average.

Freshman F Kanon Catchings (8.2 ppg) has made 39 threes, while redshirt-junior G Dawson Baker (7.9 ppg) has made 31 threes.

Junior G Dallin Hall (6.5 ppg) is second on the team with 81 assists.

Junior C Keba Keita (6.4 ppg) leads BYU in rebounds per game at 7.6 and 23 blocked shots. Other BYU regulars include senior F Mawot Mag (5.4 ppg, 15 threes) and Junior F Mihailo Boskovic (3.5 ppg).

THE KANSAS-BYU SERIES:

Kansas leads the all-time series with BYU, 4-2, and BYU won the only meeting in Provo, Utah, 80-70, on Dec. 20, 1960. Kansas has won three of the last four meetings but BYU won the last matchup, 76-68, last season on Feb. 27, 2024 in Lawrence.

PREDICTION:

No. 23 Kansas, after winning at UCF (99-48), at Cincinnati (54-40), and at TCU (74-61), has suffered setbacks on the road at Baylor (80-71), at Kansas State (81-73), and at Utah (74-67). Bill Self’s squad also fell to No. 2 Iowa State (ranking at the time), 74-57 in Ames, Iowa, back on January 15.

BYU, which enters the game with an overall record of 17-8 and 8-5 in Big 12 play, is 12-2 inside the Marriott Center.

Kansas is coming off a road loss at Utah, while BYU is on a two-game winning streak after defeating West Virginia on the road and Kansas State at home on Saturday night.

Offensively, BYU is led by Richie Saunders (15.0) and Egor Demin (11.0). As a team, the Cougars average 79.8 points per game. BYU shoots 48.0 percent from the field, 36.5 percent from behind the arc, and 69.5 percent from the free-throw line.

Kansas, on the other hand, averages 76.0 points per game, shoots 47.5 percent from the field, 34.3 percent from behind the arc, and 71.8 percent from the free-throw line.

Offensively, Kansas is led by Hunter Dickinson (16.4), Zeke Mayo (15.0), and Dajuan Harris (9.8).

Kansas, without question, has more than enough talent to win this game and a Hall-of-Fame coach on its side. However, winning big games on the road has been a real struggle for this team the last two seasons.

There’s no doubt that a win tomorrow night would be huge for this Kansas team, especially with just six regular season games remaining. Still coming off Saturday's loss at Utah, which Self’s squad led for less than three minutes, bouncing back at BYU seems like a tall task.

KANSAS: 72

BYU: 79