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).
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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.