BEVO BEAT Men's Basketball
Men’s preview: No. 25 Texas vs. No. 2 Kansas
Posted February 28th, 2016
Time: 8 p.m. Monday
Where: Erwin Center (capacity 16,540)
TV/Radio: ESPN/104.9 The Horn
Series history: Kansas leads the all-time series 26-8. The Longhorns have beaten the Jayhawks only twice this decade (2011 and 2014, both in Austin). Coach Bill Self’s club captured a 76-67 in Lawrence on Jan. 23 even though Texas led for almost 25 minutes during that game. Senior Perry Ellis fueled an 18-4 second-half run to put the game away.
| No. 25 TEXAS (19-10 overall, 10-6 Big 12) | |||||||
| No. | Pos. | Player | Class | Ht. | Wt. | PPG | RPG |
| 1 | G | Isaiah Taylor | Jr. | 6-3 | 185 | 15.5 | 5.0* |
| 3 | G | Javan Felix | Sr. | 5-11 | 205 | 11.1 | 2.2* |
| 2 | G | Demarcus Holland | Sr. | 6-3 | 190 | 2.6 | 1.5 |
| 21 | F | Connor Lammert | Sr. | 6-10 | 235 | 6.7 | 5.3 |
| 44 | C | Prince Ibeh | Sr. | 6-11 | 265 | 4.1 | 4.9 |
| Coach: Shaka Smart (19-10, 1st year at Texas; 182-66, 7th year overall) | |||||||
| *-indicates assists per game | |||||||
About the Longhorns: With two games remaining in the regular season, Texas is currently tied for third place in the Big 12 standings along with Oklahoma and Baylor. All have matching 10-6 league records. … F Connor Lammert had a terrific shooting day against the Jayhawks in January, making a career-high 5 of 7 shots from 3-point range. He was 4 for 7 from downtown on Saturday against Oklahoma. … The Horns can’t get stagnant. The offense produced just seven assists on 25 made field goals against the Sooners. G Isaiah Taylor had five of those. … G Eric Davis has quietly finished in double figures four straight games. He’s also done it seven times in 16 Big 12 games. Davis shoots 37.5 percent from 3-point range.
| No. 2 KANSAS (25-4 overall, 13-3 Big 12) | |||||||
| No. | Pos. | Player | Class | Ht. | Wt. | PPG | RPG |
| 0 | G | Frank Mason III | Jr. | 5-11 | 185 | 13.6 | 4.5* |
| 4 | G | Devonte Graham | Soph. | 6-2 | 175 | 10.9 | 3.7* |
| 1 | G | Wayne Selden | Jr. | 6-5 | 230 | 13.4 | 3.4* |
| 34 | F | Perry Ellis | Sr. | 6-8 | 225 | 16.1 | 6.1 |
| 33 | F | Landen Lucas | Jr. | 6-10 | 240 | 5.2 | 6.2 |
| Coach: Bill Self (377-82, 13th year at Kansas; 584-187, 23rd year overall) | |||||||
| *-indicates assists per game | |||||||
About the Jayhawks: Senior Perry Ellis was 11 years old when Kansas won the first of its 12 straight Big 12 titles. On Saturday after a win over Texas Tech clinched No. 12, KU fans were chanting senior Perry Ellis’ name. “It was awesome,” Ellis said. “The fans have supported me since I got here. They just make me want to finish the season out even stronger.” … Kansas’ 81.6 scoring average equals the highest ever in the Bill Self era. The Jayhawks have shot better than 50 percent from the floor in seven of their last eight games. … Ellis, G Frank Mason and G Wayne Selden have all scored at least 1,000 points during their Kansas careers. It’s the sixth time in KU history three or more 1,000-point scorers were on the same roster.
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