Feb 17, 2023

No. 5 Kansas to host No. 9 Baylor, ESPN College Gameday Saturday

Posted Feb 17, 2023 9:28 PM
<b>ESPN College Gameday will lead into the Jayhawks game against Baylor on Saturday. </b>Photo courtesy <a href="http://kuathletics.com">kuathletics.com</a>
ESPN College Gameday will lead into the Jayhawks game against Baylor on Saturday. Photo courtesy kuathletics.com

KU Athletics

LAWRENCE - No. 5 Kansas (21-5, 9-4) returns home to host No. 9 Baylor (20-6, 9-4) on Saturday. The game from Allen Fieldhouse will begin at 3 p.m. (CT) and be televised on ESPN with Dan Shulman, Jay Bilas, and Holly Rowe on the call. 
 
TIPOFF

●Honoring Black History Month, KU will honor former great Walt Wesley during the Baylor contest. Wesley was a two-time All-American at KU who played under Ted Owens from 1964-66 and was an integral part in the segregation of college athletics.

●ESPN College GameDay (CGD) will originate from Allen Fieldhouse on Feb. 18, from 9-11 a.m. This marks the 11th time the show has been in Lawrence for basketball, 12th time if one adds last fall when KU host CGD in October.

●Kansas has won three straight after its 87-76 victory at Oklahoma State on Feb. 14. The Jayhawks have won five of their last six games, with two of those wins against top 10 teams. Baylor has won four-straight games after its 79-67 win against West Virginia on Feb. 13. Kansas, Baylor and Texas are tied for first in the Big 12 race with 9-4 league records.

●Last season, Kansas became the all-time winningest program in NCAA Division I, currently at 2,378 victories.

●Kansas leads the overall series with Baylor, 34-9, including a 17-1 mark in games played in Allen Fieldhouse.

●Kansas is No. 7 in the NET Rankings through games played on Feb. 15. Kansas is No. 1 in NET Strength of Schedule and its 12 Quadrant 1 wins are the most in NCAA Division I. Baylor, Texas and Purdue are next with nine.

●Kansas has appeared in the Associated Press top 10 in each of the last 34 polls dating back to the 2021-22 preseason poll. The 34 consecutive is the longest active streak in men’s college basketball.

●An All-America and national player of the year candidate, redshirt-junior Jalen Wilson leads the Big 12 in scoring at 20.3 ppg, which is 19th nationally, and double-doubles with eight. Wilson is second in the league with an 8.2 rebounds per game average.

●Redshirt-junior Dajuan Harris Jr. is second in the Big 12 in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.94 (12th nationally) and in assists per game at 6.1, which is seventh nationally.

●Redshirt-senior Kevin McCullar Jr. is second in the Big 12 in steals (2.3), which is 15th nationally.

●Freshman Gradey Dick is a two-time Big 12 Newcomer of the Week who leads KU with 61 threes made. Dick leads KU with a 42.5 shooting percentage from beyond the arc.

●Kansas is celebrating 125 years of men’s basketball in 2022-23. 

 
UP NEXT
Kansas hits the road and plays at TCU on Monday. The ESPN Big Monday contest from Ed and Rae Schollmaier Arena will begin at 8 p.m. (Central). 
 
Kansas leads the overall series with TCU, 24-4, including a 9-2 record in Fort Worth and 7-2 mark in Ed and Rae Schollmaier Arena. Earlier this season, then-No. 14 TCU defeated then-No. 2 Kansas, 83-60, on Jan. 21, 2023, in Allen Fieldhouse.