By R.G. Mason

3  23 2024

GAME NOTES

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SALT LAKE CITY – No. 4 seed Kansas (23-10) will face No. 5 seed Gonzaga (26-7) in the second round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament on Saturday, March 23. Tip from Delta Center in Salt Lake City will be at 2:15 p.m. CT and the game will be televised on CBS.

Kansas advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the 38th time with a 93-89 win against No. 13 seed Samford on March 21. Gonzaga defeated No. 12 seed McNeese, 86-65, in its opening-round game.

Kansas is making its 51st NCAA Tournament appearance and has a 113-49 record in the event. The Jayhawks have advanced to 31 Sweet 16 contests, 15 Final Fours and four of their six national championships have been in NCAA Championship format (1952, 1988, 2008, 2022).

Kansas and Gonzaga are meeting for the third time in men’s basketball and the series is tied at 1-1. The teams last met on Nov. 26, 2020, in the opening round of the Rocket Mortgage Fort Myers Tip-Off in Fort Myers, Florida. Then-No. 1 Gonzaga defeated then-No. 6 Kansas, 102-90, to open the season for both teams.

Since seeding in the NCAA Tournament began in 1979, Kansas entered the 2024 event a No. 4 seed for the sixth time overall and the first time since 2019. KU has been a No. 4 seed in 1994, 2001, 2004, 2006, 2019 and 2024.

Kansas enters Saturday’s game against Gonzaga averaging 75.8 points per game with a plus-6.5 scoring margin. The Jayhawks pull down 36.2 rebounds per outing with a plus-2.6 rebound margin. Kansas leads the nation in assists per game at 19.0. The Jayhawks also lead the Big 12 and is ninth nationally in field goal percentage at 49.2%. KU also averages 7.2 steals and 4.0 blocked shots per contest.

Graduate G Kevin McCullar Jr., who will not play in the remainder of the NCAA Tournament due to injury, leads the Big 12 in scoring at 18.3 points per game. McCullar is second on the team with 39 three-point field goals made and his 6.0 rebounds per game are also second on the team. McCullar ranks in 11 Big 12 statistical categories.

Named on most All-America teams, the 2024 Big 12 Newcomer of the Year and an All-Big 12 First Team selection, senior C Hunter Dickinson leads the Big 12 and is fifth nationally in rebounds per game at 11.1 after his 19 points and 20 rebounds against Samford (3/21). His 17 double-doubles lead the Big 12 and are 12th nationally and he leads the league with 14 games of 20 points or more and 18 contests with 10 or more rebounds. With an 18.0 ppg, which is second in the Big 12 behind McCullar, Dickinson is the only player in the Big 12 averaging a double-double. Dickinson also leads KU with 47 blocked shots and has 31 steals.

After his 10-13 (76.9%) field goals against Samford, junior F KJ Adams Jr. continues to lead the Big 12 with a 60.9 field goal shooting percentage, which is 19th nationally. Adams averages 12.7 point and 4.5 rebounds per game and is third on the team with 104 assists and 38 steals.

Redshirt-senior G Dajuan Harris Jr. is second in the Big 12 with 6.4 assists per game, which is 12th nationally, and fourth in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.7), which is 35th nationally. Harris averages 8.5 points per contest and has a team-high 49 steals. After his 13 points against Samford (3/21), Kansas is 34-4 when Harris scores 10 or more points, including 10-3 this season.

Freshman G Johnny Furphy (9.0 ppg, 4.8 rpg) averaged 11.4 points and 6.1 rebounds in Big 12 play. He has started in 18 games for KU and leads Kansas with 42 threes made this season.

Replacing McCullar in the Kansas starting lineup is graduate G Nicolas Timberlake (5.1 ppg, 28 threes). He is coming off a KU career-high 19 points against Samford (3/21) that included a 5-8 FGs and 3-6 three pointers. Timberlake has started seven games this season and the sixth-year transfer from Towson is playing in his first NCAA Tournament.

Other KU regulars include freshman G Elmarko Jackson (4.2 ppg, 56 assists, 24 steals, 17 starts), graduate F Parker Braun (2.1 ppg, 21 blocked shots) and freshman G Jamari McDowell (1.8 ppg).

Up Next
Should Kansas win its game against Gonzaga on March 23, KU would advance to the Sweet 16 in Detroit on March 29 at Little Caesars Arena.

Kansas has appeared in 31 Sweet 16s, including 10 under head coach Bill Self. NOTE: This does not include the vacated 2018 appearance.

COURTESY KANSAS ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS

GONZAGA GAME NOTES

https://gozags.com/documents/2024/3/22/MBB34.pdf

KANSAS GAME NOTES

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5-seed Gonzaga (26-7) vs. 4-seed Kansas (23-10)
SATURDAY, MARCH 23 | 12:15 P.M. | DELTA CENTER | SALT LAKE CITY, UT
TELEVISION: CBS
LIVE VIDEO | LIVE RADIO | LIVE STATS

THE TIP OFF
– Gonzaga meets Kansas on Saturday in the second round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament in Salt Lake City, Utah. It’s the third meeting between the programs, with both teams winning one of the previous matchups.
– GU is making its 25th consecutive NCAA Tournament Appearance and 26th overall. The 25 straight berths to the field is the third-longest current streak in the nation (Kansas 34 and Michigan State 26).
– The Zags are 45-25 all-time in the 25 previous NCAA Tournament appearances with 13 trips to the Sweet 16, six trips to the Elite Eight, two Final Fours and two appearances in the national championship game.
– Gonzaga is the five seed, for the first time in program history, in the Midwest Region.
– The Zags are 42-23 in the NCAA Tournament under head coach Mark Few with a berth in all 25 seasons.
– Gonzaga is one of only two teams to win its opening-round NCAA Tournament game each of the last 15 tournaments, Kansas is the other at 17. The Zags are the only program to appear in the last eight Sweet 16s.
– The Bulldogs have the most wins in the NCAA Tournament since 2017, going 21-6, Kansas is next at 17-5. GU’s 26 wins in the tournament since 2015 is also the most, with North Carolina second at 22.
– Gonzaga has earned more NCAA Tournament “units” than any program in the country in the last six seasons.
– The Bulldogs are 36-19 all-time as a single-digit seed, with a 17-2 record in first round games.
– GU plays in Salt Lake in the NCAA Tournament for the seventh time in program history. Gonzaga has played more NCAA Tournament games in Salt Lake City than any other site, winning nine of the 12 games played there.

ZAG SECOND ROUND MEDIA AVAILABILITY
– Friday, March 22
3:10 – 3:50 pm   Open Locker Room
3:10 – 3:30 pm   Student-Athlete Press Conference
3:30 – 3:50 pm   Coach Press Conference

NCAA TOURNAMENT NOTES
– Gonzaga is making its 25th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance and 26th overall.
– The 25 straight berths to the field are the third-longest current streak in the nation (Kansas and Michigan State), and the sixth-longest in NCAA Div. 1 history.
The Zags are 45-25 all-time in their 25 NCAA Tournament appearances with 13 trips to the Sweet 16, six trips to the Elite Eight, two Final Fours and two appearances in the national championship game.
– GU is 42-23 in the NCAA Tournament under Few with a berth in all 25 seasons of his head coaching career.
– The Bulldogs have the most wins in the NCAA Tournament since 2017, going 21-6, Kansas is next at 17-5. GU’s 26 wins in the tournament since 2015 is also the most, with North Carolina second at 22. Villanova and Kansas have 21, while Duke has 20.
– Gonzaga is one of only two teams to win its opening-round NCAA Tournament game each of the last 15 tournaments, Kansas is the other at 17.
– The Zags are 36-19 all-time as a single-digit seed, with a 17-2 record in first round games as a single-digit seed.
– Gonzaga is the five seed, for the first time in program history, in the Midwest Region.
– GU plays in Salt Lake in the NCAA Tournament for the seventh time in program history. Gonzaga has played more NCAA Tournament games in Salt Lake City than any other site, winning nine of the 12 games played there. The Zags last played in Salt Lake City in 2019, beating Fairleigh Dickinson and Baylor as a one seed.
– In 2022-23, third-seeded Gonzaga defeated 14th-seeded Grand Canyon (82-70) and sixth-seeded TCU (84-81) in Denver. The Zags then advanced to the Sweet 16 in Las Vegas, where it beat second-seeded UCLA (79-76), before falling to eventual national champion and fourth-seeded UConn (82-54).

FACT CHECKING
– During Few’s coaching career, his GU teams are 32-9 (.775) as the higher seed, including a 25-5 mark since 2009.
– Since 2009, the Zags have lost only five games against a lower-seeded team, a span of 14 NCAA Tournaments.
– Few’s teams have also pulled seven upset wins in his 24 previous NCAA Tournaments.

ABOUT THE JAYHAWKS
– Kansas advanced to the second round for the 17th straight NCAA Tournament after holding off 13-seeded Samford Thursday, 93-89. Hunter Dickinson led the Jayhawks with 19 points, 20 rebounds, and four blocks. KJ Adams Jr. scored 20 points on 10-of-13 shooting from the field. Nicolas Timberlake made three threes and had 19 points. Dajuan Harris finished with 13 points and seven assists.
– Kansas made 60.3 percent from the field in the win, outscoring Samford in the paint 54-24.
– The Jayhawks lead the nation in assists per game (19.0) and are ninth in field goal percentage (49.2).
– Dickinson is fifth in the country grabbing 11.1 rebounds per game, while averaging a team-high 18 points per outing.
– Adams adds 12.7 points per game at 60.9 percent shooting from the field.
– Harris is 12th in the nation dishing out 6.4 assists.

SERIES INFO
– This is the third meeting between Gonzaga and Kansas. The series is split with both teams winning one of the previous matchups.
– In the first meeting, Kansas won in Lawrence 80-66 on Nov. 14, 1998 in the season-opener.
– In the last matchup, GU won 102-90 in the Ft. Myers Tip-Off in Florida in the season-opener.

UP NEXT
– With a victory, Gonzaga would advance to the program’s ninth straight Sweet 16.
– The Midwest Regional Semifinals and Finals are in Detroit in Little Ceasars Arena next Friday and Sunday.
– The Zags would play top-seeded Purdue, 16-seed Grambling, eighth-seeded Utah State, or ninth-seeded Texas Christian.

COURTESY GONZAGA ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS