#23/25 KANSAS AT COLORADO

LINE:

Kansas -6.5

WHERE:

Boulder, Colo. * CU Events Center (11,064)

WHEN:

Monday, February 24, 2025 * 10 p.m. (CT)

TV:

ESPN Big Monday

Play-by-Play: Mike Monaco

Analyst: Jay Williams

Producer: Joe McCoy

Director: Ed Curran

JAYHAWK RADIO NETWORK

Radio: Jayhawk Radio Network

Webcast: KUAthletics.com/Radio

Play-by-Play: Brian Hanni

Analyst: Greg Gurley

Producer/Engineer: Steve Kincaid

TIPOFF:

— No. 23/25 Kansas (18-9, 9-7 Big 12) hits the road for an ESPN Big Monday contest at Colorado (11-16, 2-14 Big 12), on Feb. 24. The game from the CU Events Center is set for 10 p.m. (Central) and will be televised on ESPN with Mike Monaco and Jay Williams on the call.

— Kansas is coming off a 96-64 win against Oklahoma State on Feb. 22. Colorado has won two of its last three games after its 76-74 win against Baylor on Feb.22.

— Colorado head coach Tad Boyle and CU assistant coach Danny Manning are Kansas graduates and former KU men’s basketball teammates. Boyle played at KU from 1982-85, while Manning played from 1985-88. The 1988 national player of the year, Manning is Kansas’ all-time leading scorer with 2,951 points and rebounder with 1,187 boards.

— KU is 80-23 all-time on Big Monday (49-1 at home and 31-23 on the road), including 61-18 under coach Bill Self (38-0 at home and 23-18 on the road).

— Kansas leads the all-time series with Colorado, 125-40. KU has won the last two, and 21 of the last 22 meetings beginning on Jan. 22, 2003.

— With the Oklahoma State win on Feb. 22, Kansas is 130-22 (85.5%) following a loss in the Bill Self era, including 7-2 this season.

— Kansas is No. 19 in the NET report by the NCAA through games of Feb. 22. To show the strength of the Big 12, the No. 19 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. 18 nationally, which is fifth in the league.

— Kansas leads the Big 12 in assists per game (17.9, 7th nationally) and blocked shots per game (4.9, 22nd nationally). KU is second in the league in FG Pct. Defense (39.0%, 13th nationally), assist-to-turnover ratio (1.54, 23rd nationally), 3FG Pct. Defense (29.9%, 18th nationally).

Graduate C Hunter Dickinson leads the Big 12 in field goals made with 181. He is second in the Big 12 in rebound average (9.7), which is 16th nationally.

Graduate G Dajuan Harris Jr. is second in the Big 12 in assists per game at 5.7, which is 30th nationally. He is third in the league in assist-to-turnover ratio at 3.24, which is 10th nationally.

ABOUT KANSAS:

No. 23/25 Kansas (18-9, 9-7 Big 12) is coming off a 96-64 win against Oklahoma State on Feb. 22. The Jayhawks average 76.1 points per game with a +8.6 scoring margin. KU pulls down 38.9 rebounds per contest with a +4.4 rebound margin. Kansas is making 47.3% from the field, including 34.6% from three-point range. Kansas leads the Big 12 in assists per game (17.9, 7th nationally) and in blocked shots per game (4.9, 22nd nationally). KU is second in the league in FG Pct. Defense (39.0%, 13th nationally), assist-to-turnover ratio (1.54, 23rd nationally) and 3FG Pct. Defense (29.9%, 18th nationally). KU also averages 6.4 steals per game.

Graduate C Hunter Dickinson has two double-doubles in his last two games after his 16 points and 11 rebounds in 22 minutes against Oklahoma State (2/22). Dickinson leads Kansas in scoring at 16.3 ppg which ranks fifth in the Big 12. Dickinson also leads KU in rebounding at 9.7 rpg, which is second in the Big 12 and is 16th nationally. A three-time Big 12 Player of the Week, Dickinson is second in the Big 12 in double-doubles (11), which is 18th nationally. Dickinson is second on the team with 38 blocked shots and is also second on the team with 26 steals. Senior

G Zeke Mayo is next in scoring at 14.7 points per contest and he leads Kansas with 69 threes made after his five versus OSU (2/22). His 40.6 three-point field goal percentage is second in the Big 12. A two-time Big 12 Newcomer of the Week, Mayo is second on the team with 81 assists and pulls down 4.9 rebounds per contest.

Graduate G Dajuan Harris Jr. has 51 assists in his last eight games. Harris is averaging 9.7 points per game. At Baylor (2/1), Harris moved into second on the Big 12 career assists list, currently at 825, which is second on the KU career list. Harris is second in the conference in assists per game at 5.7, which is 30th nationally, and is third in the Big 12 in assist-to-turnover ratio at 3.24, which is 10th nationally.

Senior F KJ Adams is a starter who is scoring 8.0 points per game. Adams pulls down 4.5 rebounds per game and has 57 assists, 19 blocked shots and

22 steals.

Freshman F Flory Bidunga pulled down a career-high 16 rebounds against Oklahoma State (2/22). He leads Kansas with 44 blocked shots and is second on the team with a 5.7 rebound average. Bidunga scores 6.5 points per game and is shooting 73.8 percent (76-for-103) from the field.

Junior G Rylan Griffen is second on the team with 35 threes made. He has started 13 games this season and is averaging 6.7 points per contest.

Junior G AJ Storr has started four games and he is scoring 6.5 points per contest. Senior

G David Coit made a season-high five threes against Oklahoma State (2/22). He has three starts and he is tied with Griffen with 35 threes made, which is second most on the team. Coit averages 5.0 points per game.

Graduate G Shakeel Moore has started nine games and is averaging 3.8 points per contest.

ABOUT COLORADO:

Located in Boulder, Colorado, Colorado is 11-16 overall and 2-14 in the Big 12. The Buffaloes started league play 0-12 and have won two of their last three contests after its 76-74 win against Baylor on Feb. 22. The Buffaloes are coached by former Kansas player Tad Boyle who is 309-199 in his 15th year at CU and 365-265 in his 19th season overall. Colorado assistant coach Danny Manning played at Kansas from 1985-88 and is KU’s all-time leading scorer with 2,951 points and rebounder with 1,187 boards. Manning was the national player of the year in 1988 when Kansas won the NCAA title.

Colorado averages 70.4 points per game and pulls down 34.7 rebounds per contest with a plus-1.7 rebound margin. The Buffs make 6.8 threes per game, shooting 45.0 percent from the field and 33.2 percent from three-point range. CU makes 15.1 free throws per game and also averages 14.5 assists, 7.2 steals and 3.9 blocked shots per outing.

Senior G Julian Hammond III leads Colorado in scoring at 12.9 points per game. He has made a team-high 45 threes and also leads the squad with 83 assists and 33 steals. Hammond’s 90.1 free throw percentage is second in the Big 12. Graduate F Andrej Jakimovski is next in scoring at 10.2 points per game. He is second on the team with 41 threes made and pulls down 4.5 rebounds per game. Sophomore F Bongot Dak (7.9 ppg, 3.9 rpg) leads CU with 39 blocked shots. Graduate C Elijah Malone (7.7 ppg) has started 17 games. Graduate F Trevor Baskin (7.6 ppg) leads CU in rebound average at 4.8. He is second on the team with 29 steals. Other Colorado regulars include freshman F Sebastian Rancik (6.0 ppg), junior G Javon Ruffin (5.8 ppg, 52 assists), sophomore G RJ Smith (5.5 ppg, 49 assists), freshman F Assane Diop (3.9 ppg, 4.1 rpg) and sophomore G/F Harrison Carrington (3.4 ppg).

THE KANSAS-COLORADO SERIES:

The Kansas-Colorado series dates back to 1931 and Kansas leads 125-40, including a 40-27 record in Boulder, and 25-8 in the CU Events Center. Overall, KU has won 21 of the last 22 meetings with CU dating back to Feb. 19, 2003. The two schools were members of the Big Seven Conference starting in 1947-48 when Colorado joined the league. CU and KU were part of the Big Eight Conference from 1958-59, then the Big 12 from 1996- 97, until Colorado left the league for the Pac-12 in 2011-12. The Buffs rejoined the Big 12 in 2024-25.

As Big 12 members, since 1996-97, Kansas is 32-1 against Colorado, 30-1 in regular season meetings and 2-0 in the Big 12 Championship. Kansas head coach Bill Self is 20-1 all-time against Colorado with all 21 meetings while at KU.

Earlier this season, Kansas defeated Colorado, 71-59, on Feb. 11, in Allen Fieldhouse. KU had four players score in double figures led by Hunter Dickinson with 19 points. Zeke Mayo had 13 points, while KJ Adams and Dajuan Harris Jr. added 10 each. KU led 40-26 at halftime.

PREDICTION:

After losing back-to-back road games at Utah and at BYU last week, No. 23 Kansas responded by defeating Oklahoma State, 96-64 on Saturday.

Offensively, the Jayhawks were led by Hunter Dickinson (16), Zeke Mayo (15), David Coit (15), and Dajuan Harris (14).

If you take away the 18 turnovers committed by Kansas, Self’s squad couldn’t have performed much better in the first game of what Bill Self described as the new season.

“We’re 1-0,” said Bill Self after Kansas defeated Oklahoma State on Saturday. “That’s what we are and that's what we’re talking about. Everybody’s stat sheet and what they’re averaging this year is exactly what happened today and we’re not going to talk about the other stuff right now.

“We’re 1-0,” he added. “Now, can they (the team) do that (forget about what happened before today's outcome)? I don’t know why they couldn’t, because it actually gives them new life, too.”

Now, Kansas is back on the road to face a Colorado team that started out Big 12 play 0-13. Recently, the Buffaloes have won two of three conference games, with a loss to Iowa State sandwiched in between.

Colorado defeated UCF on February 15 and Baylor on February 22.

Monday night rematch at Colorado, more than anything else, is about Kansas continuing to take the next step forward in this new season of Kansas basketball.

Looking back to Saturday's performance against Oklahoma State, Kansas, which led by as many as 39 points on Saturday, shot 38-of-73 (52.1%) from the field, 14-of-30 (46.7%) from behind the arc, and 6-of-8 (75.0%) from the free-throw line.

Defensively, Self’s squad limited Oklahoma State to just 22-of-60 (36.7%) shooting from the field and 8-of-25 (32.0%) shooting from behind the arc. The Jayhawks dominated the glass, 48-28, dished out 23 assists, blocked seven shots, and tallied 15 steals.

Kansas outscored Oklahoma State in the paint, 40-22, points off turnovers, 27-20, second chance points, 21-11, fast break points, 12-8, and bench points, 36-32.

Self’s squad looked like a completely different team on Saturday, Kansas was poised, determined, and confident. The Jayhawks slammed the door early on the Cowboys and, in doing so, delivered an early knockout blow.

Kansas will have another opportunity to take the next step forward, which includes moving to 2-0 in this new season, against Colorado.

In the first meeting between Kansas and Colorado in Lawrence back on February 11, the Jayhawks emerged victorious over the Buffaloes, 71-59. Hunter Dickinson (19), Zeke Mayo (13), KJ Adams (10), and Dajuan Harris (10) led the way offensively for Kansas.

Kansas, leading 40-26 at the half, was outscored by Colorado 33-31 after halftime. The Buffaloes pulled to within five points with less than 14 minutes left in the game but would get no closer.

If Saturday is any indication of what's to come in Boulder, Kansas should look like a different team than the one that took the court against Colorado in Lawrence. Big 12 games, especially on the road, are generally tight, and this game should be no different for much of the night.

Kansas 84

Colorado 71