KU Jayhawks vs. UCF Knights in Big 12 basketball opener: Probables, tip time, TV
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Kansas opens Big 12 at UCF Saturday 1 p.m. CT at Addition Financial Arena; Peacock TV.
- UCF enters 11-1 with a 10-game win streak, 88.3 PPG and 49.6% field-goal rate.
- Fulks 7.2 APG threatens UCF single-season assist record; Stillwell posts double-doubles.
The Kansas Jayhawks open Big 12 play against UCF at 1 p.m. Central Time on Saturday at Addition Financial Arena in Orlando.
Here’s what you need to know before tipoff in Florida:
Kansas vs UCF: How to watch
When: 1 p.m. Central Time on Saturday.
Where: Addition Financial Arena, Orlando
TV: Peacock, NBC Sports Network
Radio: WHB (810) in Kansas City; ESPN Wichita (92.3 FM).
Probable starters
Kansas (10-3)
F (No. 40) — Flory Bidunga, 6-10, Soph., 14.7 ppg
F ( 15) — Bryson Tiller, 6-11, Fr., 9.0
G (3) — Tre White, 6-7, Sr., 14.5
G (14) — Melvin Council Jr., 6-4, Sr., 12.9
G (22) — Darryn Peterson, 6-6, Fr., 19.3
UCF (11-1)
C (No. 7) — John Bol, 7-2, Soph., 6.5 ppg
F (99) — Jordan Burks, 6-9, Jr., 13.8
F (4) —Jamichael Stillwell, Jr., 6-8, Sr., 12.6
G (2) — Riley Kugel, 6-5, Sr., 13.7
G (1) — Themus Fulks, 6-2, Sr., 13.3
About Kansas (10-3): KU leads the all-time series 3-1. The Jayhawks won the last meeting, 98-94, in overtime in a first-round Big 12 tournament game on March 12, 2025, at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City. KU beat UCF 91-87 on Jan. 28, 2025 at Allen Fieldhouse and also prevailed 99-48 on Jan. 5, 2025 in Orlando, Florida. UCF beat KU, 65-60, on Jan. 10, 2024, in Orlando. ...
KU is 10-3 or better for the 12th-consecutive season and the 21st time in Bill Self’s 23 seasons at KU. Self is 619-159 while at Kansas, 826-264 all-time… KU went 4-1 in the month of December and is 122-19 in December under Self. …
KU has opened four games with a 3-pointer this season. … Senior guard Tre White has scored in double figures 11 times this season and 59 times in his career. White has scored in double figures in four straight games. White has grabbed five or more rebounds in 11 consecutive games, 66 times in his career. White has recorded two or more steals in three games this season and 15 times in his career. …
Kansas leads the Big 12 in 3-point field goal percentage defense at 25.2%, which ranks fourth nationally. KU also leads the Big 12 and is eighth nationally in blocked shots per game at 6.2 and in field goal percentage defense (36.6%), which is sixth nationally. ...
Sophomore Flory Bidunga has scored in double figures 11 times this season and 16 in his career. Bidunga has had seven or more rebounds in eight straight games. … Senior Melvin Council Jr. has scored in double figures in three straight games.
About UCF (11-1): UCF has won 10 consecutive games after opening 1-1. UCF’s only loss was to Vanderbilt (105-93 on Nov. 8 in Orlando). UCF has defeated Hofstra (82-78), Florida A&M (97-60), Texas A&M (86-74), Oakland (87-83), Pitt (77-67), Quinnipiac (102-91), Towson (86-61), VMI (82-57), Mercer (81-63), FGCU (102-80) and Florida Atlantic (85-80). …
UCF’s 11-1 nonconference record is best in school history. … UCF has four double-digit scorers, all starters. … UCF averages 88.3 points a game while allowing 74.9 ppg. … UCF has made 49.6% of its shots (384-774) and 39.8% of its 3’s (107-269). UCF’s opponents are 104-of-314 from 3-point range for 33.1% while shooting 42.4% overall (302-713). …
Sophomore center John Bol recorded his first career double (11 points, 11 rebounds) in the Knights’ last game, a win over Florida Atlantic. Senior guard Themus Fulks, a transfer from Milwaukee, had 24 points and 12 assists and senior guard Riley Kugel 18 points and a career-high-tying six steals vs. FAU. Fulks has 86 assists to 39 turnovers. That’s 7.2 assists per game. He had 13 assists against Quinnipiac, one shy of the program’s single-game record of 14, held by Kingsley Edwards and Cory Perry. … Should Fulks maintain a seven-assist per game average across the regular season, he’d break the previous program single-season assist record of 183 set in the 1991-92 season by Sinua Phillips. …
Jamichael Stillwell, another transfer from Milwaukee, has six double-doubles in 12 games. He had 10 offensive rebounds vs. VMI, which ties him for second all-time in program history for offensive rebounds in a single game. Stillwell is on pace to surpass UCF’s single-season double-double record of 12, set by Tacko Fall during the 2016-17 season. He had 16 double-doubles last season at Milwaukee. …
UCF is 31-11 against teams from Florida under 10th year UCF coach Johnny Dawkins. . The Knights defeated Florida A&M, FGCU and Florida Atlantic this season. …. Dawkins is 178-121 at UCF. … According to KenPom, UCF is ranked 23rd nationally with an average height of 6-foot-5. There are only three teams that UCF will play that are on-average taller — Arizona, Arizona State, and Cincinnati.
