Kansas Athletics
LAWRENCE, Kan. – For the 25th-consecutive season, the NCAA selection committee invited No. 10/10 Kansas to the Big Dance as the Jayhawks were awarded the No. 2 seed in the South Region of the 2014 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament after its 10th-straight Big 12 Championship season.
The longest-active NCAA appearance streak in the nation will lead the Jayhawks (24-9) to a meeting with Ohio Valley Conference Champion Eastern Kentucky (24-9) in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at the Scottrade Center in Saint Louis, Mo. The game will tip-off at approximately 3:10 p.m. CT and will air on TBS.
KU and EKU have played once previously, with the Jayhawks coming away with the 79-65 victory Dec. 5, 1970 in Lawrence.
Overall, the Jayhawks are making their 43rd NCAA Tournament appearance and are a No. 2 seed for the sixth time since seeding began in 1979. The Jayhawks were a No. 2 seed in 1990, 1993, 1996, 2003, 2012 and 2014. KU is 95-41 all-time in NCAA Tournament games, including 30 Sweet 16 appearances and 14 trips to the Final Four – two in the 11-year Bill Self era.
The Jayhawks finished the 2014 regular season with a 23-8 record against the nation’s toughest schedule. In conference tournament action, Kansas defeated Oklahoma State in the Phillips Big 12 Championship quarterfinals before falling to eventual tournament champ Iowa State in the semifinals to hand Kansas a 24-9 record to begin postseason play. Against the No. 1 conference in the latest overall RPI, strength of schedule, non-conference RPI and non-conference strength of schedule, Kansas won the Big 12 Conference regular-season outright on March 1 with a three-game lead and two league games remaining. Kansas is one of seven Big 12 Conference teams to earn an NCAA Tournament bid, marking just the fifth time in NCAA history that 70 percent of a league was selected. In all, KU faced 12 NCAA Tournament teams in 2013-14.
Paced by the Big 12 Freshman of the Year Andrew Wiggins’ 17.4 points per game, KU averages 79.6 points per game and outscores opponents by a +9.2 margin. KU has outrebounded 28 of 33 opponents, including 11 of its last 12 foes, and holds a +7.4 rebound margin. KU leads the Big 12, and ranks in the top-five nationally, with a 49.5 field goal percentage.