Colorado @ Kansas preview
Allen Fieldhouse
Last Meeting ( Dec 7, 2013 ) Kansas 72, Colorado 75
A former conference rivalry will be renewed Saturday night when No. 3 Kansas hosts No. 21 Colorado. It will be six years to the day since the last meeting of the two former Big 12 Conference foes, and it will be their first clash as ranked opponents since 1997.
The Jayhawks haven’t played since their 90-84 overtime win over Dayton on Nov. 27 in the Maui Invitational championship game in Hawaii. “I’m pleased with how we’ve competed,” Kansas coach Bill Self said of his team earlier this week. “I do think we’re getting better. We’ve got a long ways to go, and we need to build off some momentum.” Tad Boyle’s Buffaloes, meanwhile, remained among the ranks of the unbeaten with a 76-64 win Wednesday over visiting Loyola Marymount, and the Colorado coach wants his team to embrace the challenge Saturday as they head to Allen Fieldhouse. “We have an opportunity Saturday to go into a special place in college basketball history and make a little history of our own,” Boyle said following the hard-fought home win over the Lions. “It isn’t going to be easy, … (but) all you can ask for in life is an opportunity. Our guys have it. Let’s go try to make the most of it.”
TV: 7 p.m. ET, ESPN2
ABOUT COLORADO (7-0): The Buffs are off to their first 7-0 start since 1982, but it’s largely been a struggle offensively with Colorado averaging 69 points on 41.3-percent shooting and committing an average of 2.6 more turnovers than assists per game. Defensively, though, the Buffs have limited the opposition to an average of 56.3 points on 37.8-percent shooting and have enjoyed a plus-7.4 average rebound advantage. Swingman Tyler Bey (14.0 points per game) and guards McKinley Wright (12.4) and D’Shawn Schwartz (12.3) are averaging double figures, while the 6-7 Bey is averaging a team-best 11.9 rebounds with five double-doubles on the season.
ABOUT KANSAS (6-1): Mirroring their rank in the top 25, the Jayhawks rank third in the nation in field-goal percentage at 51.9 and are averaging 83 points per outing with six players averaging at least 8.2 points. Guard Devon Dotson leads the way with 19.7 points and 4.3 assists while center Udoka Azubuike (15.1 points, team-most 7.6 rebounds) and guard Marcus Garrett (10.0 points, 5.1 rebounds) also are averaging double digits. The Jayhawks are only shooting 66.2 percent at the free-throw line, but are outrebounding the opposition by an average of 5.9 per game.
TIP-INS
1. Colorado’s 75-72 home win over No. 6 Kansas in their last meeting in 2013 snapped the Jayhawks’ 19-game win streak in the series.
2. The Jayhawks have won 29 straight at home versus the Buffaloes, whose last win in Lawrence came on Feb. 10, 1983, when Boyle was a starting sophomore guard on that Kansas team.
3. Kansas committed 28 turnovers in its 68-66 season-opening loss to Duke at Madison Square Garden in New York, but the Jayhawks only have averaged 11.5 turnovers per outing since.
PREDICTION: Kansas 75, Colorado 64