Can undefeated KU take care of business in pair of nonconference road games this week?
Kansas’ No. 1-ranked men’s basketball team is about to embark on a two-game road trip — a common occurrence during the conference season, not so much in non-league action.
“I don’t know the last time we went back-to-back in a nonconference road game situation (not counting tournaments),” KU coach Bill Self said at a news conference Monday to preview Wednesday’s 7:30 p.m. contest against Creighton at 17,352-seat CHI Health Center. It will be shown live on FS1.
Four days later it’s off to Missouri for a noon tipoff against the Tigers Sunday at Mizzou Arena.
“Our nonconference … we’ve done fairly well thus far, but the success of our nonconference will in large ways be determined by how we play this week, because how you do away from home is really the true indication on how well you’re actually playing,” Self said. “We’ve been decent in a couple of neutral site games — big games — but how we play in Omaha and Columbia will probably in my mind determine what type of true success we had in our nonconference schedule.”
The Jayhawks (7-0), who defeated Duke 75-72 Nov. 26 in Las Vegas and Michigan State 77-69 Nov. 12 in Atlanta, fell to Arkansas 85-69 in an exhibition game Oct 25 in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Now comes the rare stretch of consecutive road games. KU, in fact, has played back-to-back nonconference road games just two times in the 22-year Self era.
The Jayhawks lost to then-Pac 12 school Colorado, 75-72, on Dec. 7, 2013 in Boulder, Colorado, then dropped a 67-61 decision to Florida three days later on Dec. 10, 2013 in Gainesville, Florida.
KU lost to Villanova, 56-55, on Dec. 21, 2019 in Philadelphia. Then after breaking several days for the Christmas holiday, the Jayhawks beat Stanford, 72-56, on Dec. 29 in Palo Alto, California.
“I think it’s a good schedule (so far in 2024-25) and I don’t think we’ve gotten credit for how good a schedule it is yet because North Carolina’s lost a couple of games. Michigan State’s lost two games,” Self said. “You’ve got Furman who was undefeated obviously, and that is going to end up being a quad two win before it’s all said and done.”
KU handled Furman of the Southern Conference, 86-51, on Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse. The Jayhawks beat UNC, 92-89, on Nov. 8 at Allen Fieldhouse
“The other ones are going to be quad one wins,” Self said. “This game is a quad one game for us. At Missouri will be a quad one game for us. N.C. State (on Dec. 14 in Allen) could be easily a quad one game for us. So from a nonconference standpoint, I think it’s a great schedule.
“I also don’t think the schedule has played out to be as effective as it is going to look later on the season because later on the season you’re going to have (people say), ‘so you guys won against Duke, Carolina, Michigan State and you got three big opportunities still in front of you (Creighton, Missouri and N.C. State) to add to that.’ So I think it’ll be looked at very favorably.”
The Jayhawks on Wednesday will face an unranked (5-3) Creighton team in the Big 12/Big East Battle, which features a series of games from teams in the two conferences.
The Bluejays opened the season 4-1 then stumbled to a 1-2 mark at last week’s Players Era Festival in Las Vegas. Creighton fell to San Diego State (71-53) and Texas A&M (77-73) in the first two games. Then, playing without big man Ryan Kalkbrenner (lower-body injury), Creighton defeated Notre Dame in Sunday’s finale, 80-76.
Kalkbrenner, a 7-1, 270-pound fifth-year senior who received votes on AP’s preseason All-America team and is Big East preseason player of the year, averages 18.1 points and 8.1 rebounds a game. If he plays Wednesday, he’ll be matched against KU’s preseason All-America center Hunter Dickinson.
Kalkbrenner, who had made 50 of 64 shots this season for 78.1%, scored a career-high 49 points in a season-opening 99-86 win over UT-Rio Grande in Omaha.
“You can’t simulate his shot blocking,” Self said of Kalkbrenner, who has 21 blocks. “He’s Big East defensive player of the year the last three years and will win it this year. He’s talented (and has hit 3 of 5 3s and 24 of 33 free throws). We’ll have two dinosaurs going against each other. They are probably two of the oldest guys in college basketball and All-Americans.”
Kalkbrenner turns 23 on Jan. 17; Dickinson turned 24 on Nov. 25.
Of the matchup of bigs, Dickinson, who averages 15.7 points and 9.1 rebounds a game, said: “He had some lower back (issue) I think in Vegas. Playing so many games in a row can put wear and tear on a body. I can speak to that for sure. We are probably some of the best bigs in the country. I feel like (that’s) consensus. They run a lot of good stuff for him. They get him in a lot of good positions. Three time Big East defensive player of the year. It’ll be a good matchup for me and the team.”
Not much has been reported on Kalkbrenner’s injury.
“Hopefully ‘Kalk’ is healthy and ready to go and it’ll be a fun matchup for people to watch,” CU coach Greg McDermott said Monday. “Hopefully we’ll have a full roster for Wednesday,” he added.
