Milwaukee @ Kansas preview

Kansas hasn't exactly suffered from poor defense in recent seasons, but it's been a while since coach Bill Self has had a team consistently lock up opposing offenses. Backed by a defense that just held its second opponent of the season to 30 percent shooting, the third-ranked Jayhawks set their sights on an eighth straight victory Tuesday when they host Milwaukee.

After finishing eighth in the 10-team Big 12 in scoring defense (70.1 points) last season, only one opponent has topped that mark in nine games in 2019-20 against Kansas - a 90-84 overtime victory over Dayton in the Maui Invitational title game. The Jayhawks, who are allowing an average of 63.9 points on 37.7 percent shooting this season, held their third opponent to fewer than 60 points in Saturday's 72-58 victory over No. 23 Colorado. "Sometimes KU makes you do things you don’t want to do and they have such good rim protection and they’re very sound defensively. ... They are a good team and KU does not have a lot of weaknesses. ... KU beat us tonight. Very soundly," Buffaloes coach Tad Boyle said afterward. The Panthers seem like an unlikely candidate to challenge the Jayhawks' defense, as they are averaging 59.3 points over their last three contests and coming off their worst offensive showing of the year after dropping a 56-53 decision at Drake last Tuesday.

TV: 8 p.m. ET, No TV

ABOUT MILWAUKEE (5-4): With Illinois transfer Te'Jon Lucas (team-high marks of 15.0 points and 5.3 rebounds) unable to play for an unspecified reason Tuesday, senior swingman DeAndre Abram (10.8, 5.3) went 4-for-15 from the field but was the only Panther to reach double figures versus the Bulldogs, leading the way with 12 points, seven boards, two blocks and two steals. Abram, who entered the season as one of only five returning Horizon League players to finish in the top 20 in the conference in scoring and rebounding, finds himself sitting 20th and 12th, respectively, in those categories in 2019-20. Darius Roy (13.9 points) and Josh Thomas (12.0) also were unable to get much going Tuesday, combining for 15 points on 6-of-19 shooting and eight turnovers.

ABOUT KANSAS (7-1): Ochai Agbaji (10.9 points, 4.9 rebounds) became the fifth Kansas player to lead his team in scoring in 2019-20 with 20 points, and he set a career high with 12 rebounds for his third-career double-double in Saturday's triumph. Fellow sophomore guard Devon Dotson (Big 12-best 19.5 points, team-high 4.5 assists, 2.1 steals) has scored 17 or more points in seven of eight games this season and accumulated nine steals over the last three contests. Senior center Udoka Azubuike (14.8 points, team-high 7.4 rebounds) leads the nation in field-goal percentage (80.3) and has a career field-goal percentage of 75.3 - well ahead of the NCAA career record (minimum 400 attempts and four made per game) set by Oregon State's Steve Johnson (67.8).

TIP-INS

1. Kansas (299-67) can join Gonzaga (304-54) as the only two teams in Division I to reach the 300-win mark this decade with a victory Tuesday.

2. The Jayhawks are 126-5 against non-conference foes at home under Self.

3. Dotson ranks fourth in the Big 12 in free-throw percentage (87.7) and has buried 29 of his 32 attempts from the foul line over the last five games.

PREDICTION: Kansas 80, Milwaukee 57