Kansas Jayhawks vs. Creighton Bluejays in NCAA Tournament: Preview, time, TV

The details

When/where: Approximately 1:40 p.m. Saturday at, Dickies Arena, Fort Worth, Texas.

TV/radio: CBS; WHB (810 AM)

About No. 9 seed Creighton (23-11): The Bluejays of the Big East Conference advanced to the Round of 32 by defeating San Diego State, 72-69 in overtime, in Thursday’s first-round game at Dickies Arena. … Creighton has won three of its last four games and 10 of 13. … Creighton lost to Villanova, 54-48, in the Big East tournament finals and received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. … CU placed fourth in the Big East regular-season standings behind Providence (14-3), Villanova (16-4) and UConn (13-6)… More than 38% of Creighton’s points this season come from freshmen. … Ryan Nembhard (11.3 points per game) was named Big East freshman of the year despite suffering a wrist injury Feb. 23 that ended his season. … Greg McDermott is 276-136 in 12 seasons at Creighton. McDermott is 6-6 as Creighton coach in the NCAA Tournament. McDermott, former head coach at Iowa State, is 0-9 in head-to-head matchups against KU’s Bill Self. He’s 0-8 vs. KU as ISU coach; 0-1 as Creighton coach. … CU is 16-23 all-time in the NCAA Tournament. ... The Bluejays have won games in consecutive NCAA Tournaments for the first time since a three-year stretch from 2012-14. … Creighton is making its 23rd NCAA Tournament appearance and 14th in 24 years. … CU is 7-7 against teams that made the NCAA field. … Senior guard Alex O’Connell began his college career playing three seasons at Duke. ... Senior forward Ryan Hawkins won three national titles in five seasons at NCAA Division II NW Missouri State. … Creighton is one of six Big East teams to make the NCAA Tournament this season, joining Providence, Villanova, Connecticut, Marquette and Seton Hall. ... The Big East has had a Sweet 16 squad in 25 of the last 27 NCAA Tournaments.

About No. 1 seed Kansas (29-6): KU leads the all-time series against Creighton, 10-6, including 2-0 on neutral courts. ... KU, which has won five straight over the Bluejays, prevailed in the last meeting, 73-72, on Dec. 8, 2020 at Allen Fieldhouse. In last year’s game, Marcus Zegarowski was fouled on a three-point attempt by Jalen Wilson with 1.0 seconds left. He missed his final free throw, assuring KU’s win. Wilson scored 23 points and hit the go-ahead three with :40 left. Ochai Agbaji was scoreless in 24 minutes on 0-for-6 shooting. CU has two players on the roster who played in that KU game. Both are injured. KU entered the game ranked No. 5; Creighton was No. 8. … Prior to that, the Jayhawks last met Creighton in the 1974 NCAA Tournament. The Jayhawks won, 55-54, in a Midwest Regional semifinal on March 14, 1974, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Under head coach Ted Owens, Kansas advanced to the 1974 Final Four in Greensboro, North Carolina. ... KU’s last loss in the series was 59-55 on Dec. 5, 1949, in Omaha. … KU coach Self is 3-3 versus Creighton: 0-3 as Oral Roberts coach, 1-0 as KU coach, 1-0 as Tulsa coach, 1-0 as Illinois coach. … With 2,352 all-time wins, a victory over CU would tie KU with Kentucky for most all-time victories (2,353). … KU is 110-48 in 50 NCAA Tournament appearances. … KU is shooting for its 30th victory for the 16th time in KU history, 10th in the Self era. ... At 29-6, Kansas is vying for its 16th all-time 30-victor4y season, which would tie for the most in NCAA Division I history with Kentucky. Self has nine of the 15 30-win seasons at Kansas. ... If KU defeats Creighton, it would play the winner of the Richmond-Providence second round game in the Sweet 16. KU has advanced to the Sweet 16 10 times under Self with the last appearance in 2018.

Projected lineups

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.