Kansas basketball begins stretch against unranked opponents

Victories over No. 4 Kentucky on the road and No. 2 Baylor at home in a five-day span have proven especially gratifying to fifth-year Kansas senior Landen Lucas.

“I mean that’s fun. It’s what you come to Kansas for — to play in these big games, back-to-back top-four matchups,” said Lucas. “We enjoy it, but we know at the end of the day we have a bigger goal so this is just another step toward it. Obviously we still have some tough games coming up ahead, but we made it through a really good stretch.”

The No. 3 Jayhawks (20-2, 8-1 Big 12) begin a stretch Saturday of three games against unranked teams — all teams that played KU tough during previous matchups in recent weeks.

Iowa State, a 76-72 loser to KU on Jan. 16 in Ames, visits Allen Fieldhouse on Saturday.

“It’s been a great stretch, but it’s not over yet,” KU freshman guard Josh Jackson said. “We’ve got a big one Saturday against Iowa State. We’ll spend all week preparing for it.”

KU leads the Big 12 by one game over Baylor and two over West Virginia.

Jackson scored six points on 3-of-11 shooting with eight rebounds, five assists and four turnovers, while fouling out in 27 minutes in KU’s victory over ISU. Frank Mason led KU with 16 points, while Lucas had 14 points and six rebounds. Senior point guard Monte Morris had 23 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and four steals while playing 40 minutes for the Cyclones.

“Obviously defend the arc,” KU coach Bill Self said of a key to Saturday’s game. “Be able to guard the ball because they are going to play four guards.”

ISU senior shooting guard Matt Thomas, who hit 2 of 5 threes and scored six points in 33 minutes in the first meeting, has made 16 of his last 22 threes over the last three games, while averaging 19.3 points in that span.

Thomas needs four points to become the 34th Cyclone to reach 1,000 points, joining teammates Morris and Naz Mitrou-Long. The last ISU trio of teammates to have 1,000 points were Fred Hoiberg, Julius Michalik and Loren Meyer (1992-95).

“I think he’s a guy who is as good a shooter as there is in the country when he gets a good look,” ISU coach Steve Prohm said of Thomas, who has been bothered by bone spurs in his right foot much of the season. “I think as a coach you feel it’s going in every time. We’ve got to continue to get him shots in transition. It’s hard in halfcourt sometimes because people are sticking to him, but we’ve got to do a good job of moving him around to get him some more looks.”

Notes — Self said Friday there’s been no change in Carlton Bragg’s status entering the ISU game. The sophomore forward has been suspended indefinitely for violation of team rules and missed the last two games. Bragg entered into a diversion agreement with Lawrence Municipal Court on Wednesday after he was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia. Self has not said the suspension is related to the court case.… Trae Young, a 6-2 senior guard from Norman (Okla.) North, will announce his college choice at noon Feb. 16, he announced Friday on Twitter. He is said to be considering KU, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech.

This story was originally published February 3, 2017 at 7:49 PM with the headline "Kansas basketball begins stretch against unranked opponents."