Game thread - Arizona @KANSAS MON FEB 9, 8:00 PM CT ESPN

With sincere appreciation and respect for the works of Jim Croce (You Don/t Mess Around with Jim) and Des'ree (You Gotta Be)

Well, a hush fell over the Fieldhouse, Arizona come a boppin’ in off the street.
And when the shooting was done the only cats left a standin’ were the ones with the yellow beaks!
Yeah, the Wildcats goose egg got smashed, all a cracked and broken on the Fieldhouse floor
Those Jayhawks were flying and those ‘Cats were crying as the Allen Fieldhouse crowd all roared, don’t you know???...

They say you don’t tug on Superman’s cape.
You don’t spit into the wind.
You don’t pull the mask off the ol’ Lone Ranger
and you don’t come to Allen and win!

Q: Can KANSAS beat UA in THE PHOG?
A: Yes SIR!

Q: *Will* KANSAS beat UA in AFH Feb ?
A: The oddsmaker favor not KANSAS, so KANSAS, they gotta be...
They gotta be bad, they gotta be bold, they gotta be wiser.
They gotta be hard, they gotta be tough, they gotta be stronger.
They gotta be cool, they gotta be calm, they gotta play together
Do all that and KU will win the game!

It’s another KANSAS JAYHAWKS Men’s Basketball...

... Buh duh ^DUH duh ^{DUH DUH} duh duh _{duh duh} DUH DUH ^DUH ... BALL NIGHT!

7:30 PM CT The Crimson and Blue Show radio coverage begins, leading into Brian Hanni and Greg Gurley calling the game for the Jayhawk Radio Network on the kuleanplayer.

Monday at 8:00 PM CT on ESPN Big Monday our AP9 KANSAS JAYHAWKS (18-5|8-2) strive to extend their seven game winning streak to eight and put a “1” in the LOSS column for the undefeated AP1 Arizona Wildcats (23-0|10-0) in the hallowed halls of The Cradle of College Basketball, Allen Fieldhouse!

The Jayhawks are 10-4 all time against UA, with the Wildcats having won the game last year in Tucson (not Tuck-son, sir, that’s pronounced “TOO-san").

ESPN's Matchup Predictor only gives KANSAS a 41.8% chance to win (link). The spread is but 2.5 points.

asteroid had not posted his predictions for this game at post time. However, his Big XII Projection Round 11 projects a 74-78 home loss for KANSAS in what has all the makings of a classic!

Here is the link to CorpusJayhawk’s Rock Chalk Challenge newsletter projection with the analysis of the Utah game and the predictions for the Arizona game (and again soooo much more). The DPPI is projecting this game to be a virtual toss up 49.3% chance of a KU win, with a margin of 0.2 points. Corpus himself is going large, projecting a KU win, 86-64!

Here's the links to make you think...
KUAthletics.com: No. 11 KANSAS to host No 1 Arizona on ESPN Big Monday
KUAthletics.com: KANSAS v Arizona Game Notes
KUAthletics.com: Opponent History - Arizona

Get 'er done, Jayhawks!

AY2025-26 Arizona Wildcats MEN'S BASKETBALL ROSTER per ESPN.com
AY2025-26 KANSAS JAYHAWKS MEN'S BASKETBALL ROSTER LEGEND
$ Walk on (grandfathered in, so don't count against roster limits; no new W in the future under current guidelines)
~ Redshirting this season
* Past Redshirt
# Transfer with 1 year to play

INJURY REPORT
LET'S GO JAYHAWKS!

ROCK CHALK!

ANSWER TO THE UTAH GAME QUICK QUIZ

Six of the 16 Big 12 programs have at least 1 NCAA Tournament title in program history.
Only KANSAS (2008, 2022) and Baylor (2023) have won as members of the Big 12.

Arizona (1 - 1997 Pac-10)
Baylor (1 – 2023 Big 12)
Cincinnati (2 -1961, 1962 Missouri Valley Conference)
KANSAS (4 - 1952, 1988, 2008, 2022 Big 7, Big 8 and Big 12 x 2)
Oklahoma State (2 -1945, 1946 as Oklahoma A&M Missouri Valley Conference)
Utah (1 -1944 Independent)

BY THE WAY -

The KUAthletics.com game day article notes that
1-5 is KU's record versus #1 in games played in Lawrence.
0-5 in AFH.

I personally think it is time for this KANSAS squad to DAWG UP and
scramble a couple of goose eggs -
1 in the WIN column for AFH and
1 in the LOSS column for UofA!

ROCK CHALK!

Talk about irresistible force v immovable object metaphors -

konza63 texted me that Mike Swain reports:
1. 38-0 - KU on Big Monday in AFH under Self
2. Under Self KU is undefeated at home in Top 10 matchups (KU now AP9 as of today).

BOTH records on the line tonight against 23-0|10-0 UofA

Somewhere, somehow, something's gotta give!

All I can say is this -

They were bad, they were bold, they were wiser.
They were hard, they were tough, they were stronger.
They were cool, they were calm, they played together
They did all that and WOW! They won the game!

WOO HOO!

78 Arizona
82 KANSAS

Well, a hush fell over the Fieldhouse, Arizona come a boppin’ in off the street.
And when the shooting was done the only cats left a standin’ were the ones with the yellow beaks!
Yeah, the Wildcats goose egg got smashed, all a cracked and broken on the Fieldhouse floor
Those Jayhawks were flying and those ‘Cats were crying as the Allen Fieldhouse crowd all roared, don’t you know???...

They say you don’t tug on Superman’s cape.
You don’t spit into the wind.
You don’t pull the mask off the ol’ Lone Ranger
and you don’t come to Allen and win!

ROCK CHALK JAYHAWK!

hairyhawk wrote: Though Melvin Council Jr. and Flory Bidunga will get most of the credit, with good reason, this really was a team win. All of the folks who played more than a few minutes made some winning plays.

Absofragginlutely!

They would have been buried in H1 if not for the play of Bryson and Jamari.

Tre, even though he had one of his worst games, hit those critical free throws with :05 left to seal the deal.

And EVERYBODY that wasn't scoring was setting screens or making passes to get the ball to the scorer or crashing the boards or busting their butts on defense (sometime to no avail - AZ got some great players), but without all those hustle plays and that defense clamping down in the end KU does not win.

Team win indeed!