How the Kansas Jayhawks’ men’s basketball schedule shapes up through the holidays
Kansas Jayhawks men’s basketball guard Rylan Griffen is looking forward to celebrating Christmas back home during the team’s three-day holiday vacation.
The junior from Dallas talked about that and other matters during a Jayhawk radio network interview that took place before KU played (and beat) N.C. State at Allen Fieldhouse on Dec. 14.
“I’m going to try to get the ‘W’ today and try to get a win against Brown and then a much-needed break home,” Griffen said.
The Jayhawks will make a final pre-Christmas appearance before their home crowd in a nonconference clash against Brown at 2 p.m. Sunday. After that, they’ll scatter to their hometowns for Christmas with their return expected the night of the 26th.
The team is scheduled to practice the night of the 26th and on the 27th while also holding a holiday clinic on the 27th. The Jayhawks’ first Big 12 Conference game, against West Virginia, awaits at 1 p.m. on New Year’s Eve at Allen Fieldhouse.
“I feel like I need to get there and just be able to relax and see what I grew up around most of the time,” Griffen said, “see some of my friends that I won’t get to see when we start conference play. So I think I need a break. I think a lot of other players do, too, but we can’t think about that right now.”
The Jayhawks have had mixed results in games played right before holiday breaks in the 22-year Bill Self era.
KU has won four straight such games, upending Ivy League schools Yale (75-60) on Dec. 22, 2023 and Harvard (68-54) on Dec. 22, 2022 at Allen. KU defeated Stephen F. Austin 80-72 on Dec. 18, 2021 and West Virginia in a league game on Dec. 22, 2020.
The Jayhawks’ last loss in a pre-Christmas break game was 56-55 to Villanova on Dec. 21, 2019 in Philadelphia. The year before, on Dec. 22, 2018, KU fell at Arizona State, 80-76.
The Jayhawks are 7-5 in the Self era when playing on the road right before scattering home for the Christmas holiday. Self-led KU’s other pre-break road losses were at Nevada in 2003-04, Temple in 2014-15 and Arizona in 2008-09.
KU has won pre-Christmas games at Stanford (2017-18 season), UNLV (2016-17), San Diego State (2015-16), Ohio State (2012-13), USC (2011-12), California (2010-11) and against UC Santa Barbara (in tourney at Reno in 2003-04).
KU beat Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Dec. 22, 2004, at the Sprint Center, now T-Mobile Center.
KU has played at Allen Fieldhouse in the game right before Christmas on nine occasions during the Self era, winning each time.
“We’ve done it both ways,” Self said of winning and losing games before the holiday break. “I think every school in America has. You don’t win every game, but it’s nice to go into Christmas with people feeling good about everything, and there’s no guarantee that’s going to happen with us. We’ve still got to perform on Sunday against a good Brown team.
“... The thing about it is so much of it is scheduling. We used to play every game right before Christmas on the road because that was the only way you could pay for the kids’ trips home.”
For a time, Self said, “whatever the cost of the round trip (from Lawrence to pre-Christmas game site) you could apply (to flights to hometowns of players). You don’t have those situations now so the need to do that (play on the road) is probably not as great.
“The rules are so different now with NIL and kids have their own money and the different things that school are allowed to do to be more student-athlete friendly probably creates a situation where there’s not as much of a need for that. There was a time we’d be going to Reno to play in a tournament so kids could get home free.”
Self said the Jayhawks have had some productive practices since their last game (a 75-60 KU victory over NC State on Dec. 14). The Jayhawks did not play during final-exams week, which concluded Friday. Second-semester classes begin Jan. 21.
“We had a good week,” Self said. “Last time I told you (media members) I thought we were getting better we (stunk), so I’m not going to say that, but I will tell you this: I think we’ve had a good productive week and attitudes have been terrific.
“And, knock on wood, we seem to be more healthy,” Self continued. “And a lot of that is because of Shak (Moore, who has returned from foot soreness). I mean, he hasn’t had any limitations.”
The upcoming Big 12 season will consist of 20 games.
“I would say I’ve got to become wiser in knowing that, with no breaks in a 10-week season, basically, that I can’t practice the guys the same way I have in the past,” Self said. “Juan (Harris), KJ (Adams) and ‘Hunt’ (Dickinson) need to probably rest more.
“It seems to me that that was one of our issues last year. I think we were a tired team and that was only 18 games and then injuries started happening. And a tired team that’s beat up isn’t a good way to finish a season. I think that we need to take those things into consideration and probably do a much smarter job of being efficient on how much we keep ‘em on their feet.”
Brown of the Ivy League comes to town on a six-game win streak. The Bears (7-3) are led by senior guard Kino Lilly, who averages 20.2 points per game and is the school’s all-time leader in 3-point field goals (280).
“They’ll be a team that competes for a championship in their league,” Self said.
This story was originally published December 20, 2024 at 2:33 PM with the headline "How the Kansas Jayhawks’ men’s basketball schedule shapes up through the holidays."
