LAWRENCE, Kan. – No. 5/5 Kansas (22-4, 11-2) returns home to host Kansas State (14-12, 6-8) in the Dillons Sunflower Showdown, Tuesday, Feb. 22, at 8 p.m. CST on ESPN.
Holding a two-game lead in the loss column in the 2022 Big 12 race, Kansas won its third-straight contest with a 71-58 victory at West Virginia on Feb. 19. Kansas State has won two of its last three games and is looking to rebound from an 82-79 overtime loss at Oklahoma State Feb. 19.
For Tuesday’s contest, Kansas and Kansas State will honor two former players who broke the color barrier at each institution in 1951-52 – LaVannes Squires of Kansas and Gene Wilson of Kansas State.
Kansas is No. 5 in the NET rankings and No. 6 in strength of schedule released by the NCAA through games played Feb. 20. Kansas’ is 10-3 against Quadrant 1 teams and its 10 wins are more than any other team in NCAA Division I.
Kansas leads the Big 12 in scoring offense (79.2 ppg), which is 24th nationally, and in field goal percentage (49.2%, sixth nationally).
A national player of the year candidate, senior Ochai Agbaji leads the Big 12 in scoring at 20.0 points per game, which is 19th nationally, and in three-point field goal percentage at 43.7%, 10th nationally. He has scored 20 or more points in 14 games this season after his 23 points at West Virginia on Feb. 19 and has been named Big 12 Player of the Week four times this season.
Kansas has two players ranked in the top four in rebounding in the Big 12 with redshirt-sophomore Jalen Wilson third at 7.3 rpg and senior David McCormack fourth at 7.1 rpg. Both posted double-doubles at West Virginia (Feb. 19) – McCormack (19 points, 11 rebounds), Wilson (10 points, 11 rebounds)
Jalen Wilson is the reigning Big 12 Player of the Week, named Feb. 14.
Up Next
Kansas hits the road to face No. 10 Baylor, Saturday, Feb. 26, at 7 p.m. The contest will be televised on ESPN. ESPN College GameDay will originate from Waco, marking the second time this season KU has been featured on the show. Earlier this season, then-No. 10 Kansas defeated then-No. 8 Baylor, 83-59, on Feb. 5, in Allen Fieldhouse.
For ticket information on upcoming games, one can go to here.
