LAWRENCE, Kan. — No. 8 Kansas will entertain Oklahoma at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, hoping to maintain their spot atop the Big 12 standings.
The Jayhawks, who beat No. 20 West Virginia Saturday night, are locked at the top of the Big 12 regular season standings with Texas Tech.
Tip-off time for this game is set for 9:00 p.m. ET, live on ESPN and streaming on ESPN3. Bob Wischusen (play-by-play), Dick Vitale (analyst) and Holly Rowe (reporter) will be calling the action.
Trae Young led the Sooners (16-10, 6-8 Big 12) to victory in the first meeting between these two teams and the Jayhawks (21-6, 10-4 Big 12) will be out for revenge against visitors on their own home turf.
Both clubs enter this matchup in different form over the last few fixtures.
While Kansas has won two straight and five of the last games, Oklahoma has seen its form dipped significantly at the wrong time of the year, resulting in it losing five consecutive and six from the last seven.
Despite Young’s good form, Oklahoma finds itself in a freefall after suffering its eighth defeat in the last 10 games, which could result in it missing the big dance if things don’t change.
The Sooners who were swept by West Virginia and Texas, are dropped out of the latest AP Top 25 Rankings, released on Monday.
Oklahoma is seeking to win in Lawrence for their first since 1993 and with only four regular-season games remaining, Young, who leads the nation in scoring and assists, and his teammates, will be hoping to finish the regular-season strong.
Devonte’ Graham of the Kansas Jayhawks basketball
The Jayhawks, who lead the series 146-67, have beaten the Sooners in 16 successive games in Lawrence.
Devonte’ Graham leads Kansas in points per game, at 17.4 ppg, assists, with 7.2 apg and steals, with 1.7 spg.
Meanwhile, Young is scoring 29.0 points and dishing out 9.2 assists per game – both leading the nation.
However, the freshman who started the season in a free-scoring mode, is now being taken a lot more seriously by the opposition and he’s noticing it.
“I’m getting guarded like nobody else in the country is being guarded, scouted on like nobody else,” Young said.
“It’s a mystery coming out each and every game, trying to figure out how teams are going to guard me and how I’m going to dictate how my team wins.”
The freshman sensation scored 26 points when these two teams met last month.
