KU Jayhawks vs. Omaha Mavericks: Lineups, tipoff time, TV, notes

The details

When/where: 6 p.m. Friday at Allen Fieldhouse, Lawrence

TV/radio: ESPN2; WHB (810 AM)

Projected lineups

About Omaha (2-4): Omaha has defeated Middle Tennessee (60-59) and SIU-Edwardsville (65-63) and lost to Drake (87-66), Creighton (94-67), Abilene Christian (70-58) and Austin Peay (72-66). … The Mavericks have a 10-game nonconference schedule, all on the road from Nov. 25 to Dec. 29. During that time, their home facility, Baxter Arena, is host site for the National Collegiate Hockey Conference Pod. In all, 38 hockey games will be held Dec. 1-21. … Omaha is closing in on its 2,000th victory in school history. The Mavericks are 1,199-1,206 in 108 seasons. … Omaha was picked fourth of nine teams in the Summit League’s preseason poll. … Matt Pile, a 6-8 senior forward from Goddard, Kansas, was a first-team preseason all-Summit League selection. Pile is the reigning Summit League defensive player of the year and was an all-Summit honorable mention pick in 2019-20. He tied a Summit League Tournament rebounding record with 21 rebounds against Oral Roberts in the quarterfinals a year ago. Through six games he’s averaging 9.5 boards a game … .Pile’s 761 career rebounds are the sixth-most of any active player in NCAA Division I, and his 22 career double-doubles are the 12th-most. Pile needs 21 points to become the 42nd 1,000-point scorer in Maverick history. ... Marlon Ruffin has made 21 of 22 free throws to start the season and is perfect on his last 20 attempts. … Kansas City-area players on the Mavericks’ roster: Darrius Hughes, 6-7 sophomore, Rockhurst High School; Zach Thornhill, 6-4 junior, St. James Academy; La’Mel Robinson, 6-0 freshman, Park Hill South High School; Dylan Brougham, 6-9 freshman, Park Hill South; Marco Smith, 6-2 junior, Washington High School. Smith is a transfer from UMKC..

About No. 5 Kansas (5-1): The two teams have played just once throughout history. The Jayhawks won, 109-64, on Dec. 18, 2017, in Allen Fieldhouse. Svi Mykhailiuk scored 26 points, Devonté Graham 17, Lagerald Vick 15, Malik Newman 14 and Udoka Azubuike 11. … KU’s Tyon Grant-Foster and Omaha’s La’Mel Robinson are cousins. They played together on various youth basketball teams. Robinson is from Riverside, Missouri, and Grant-Foster is from Kansas City. ... KU is 5-1 for the second-straight season and 5-1 or better for the ninth-consecutive season. … Kansas is 2-1 against ranked teams, including 1-1 versus top-10 teams. … KU has won 11 straight games in Allen Fieldhouse. … KU had 13 offensive rebounds to Creighton’s three in the Jayhawks’ 73-72 win over the Bluejays on Tuesday at Allen Fieldhouse. CU’s three offensive rebounds are the fewest by an opponent since Oklahoma grabbed three in 2019. … KU has had 10 steals in a game three times this season, the last on Tuesday vs. the Bluejays. … Marcus Garrett has 143 career steals, tying Ryan Robertson (1996-99) for 23rd place on KU’s all-time list. … David McCormack has scored in double figures two times this season and 15 times in his three-year KU career. … Jalen Wilson has scored in double figures all six games. He had 23 points vs. Creighton and Kentucky.

Gary Bedore

The Kansas City Star

816-234-4068

Gary Bedore covers KU basketball for The Kansas City Star. He has written about the Jayhawks since 1978 — during the Ted Owens, Larry Brown, Roy Williams and Bill Self eras. He has won the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year award and KPA writing awards.