November 3, 2009

Five-time defending Big 12 Conference champion Kansas opens up the 2009-10 exhibition season hosting Fort Hays State Tuesday, Nov. 3, at 7 p.m. The game will be televised on Jayhawk TV. Kansas is looking to win its 34th-straight exhibition contest and is 19-0 in exhibition games under head coach Bill Self. Like Kansas, Fort Hays State begins its exhibition season as well on Tuesday and is coming off a 20-9 season in 2008-09.

About Kansas

Preseason No. 1 in most national polls, Kansas returns its top nine scorers, including all five starters from last season’s 27-8 team which won its fifth straight and ninth overall Big 12 regular-season championship. The Jayhawks advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 before falling to eventual NCAA runner-up Michigan State. Senior Sherron Collins and junior Cole Aldrich are the Big 12 Preseason Co-Players of the Year for 2009-10. Collins led KU in scoring last season with 18.9 points per game, while Aldrich averaged a double-double with 14.9 points and 11.1 rebounds. Both Collins and Aldrich were All-Big 12 First Team selections last year. Sophomore guard Tyshawn Taylor is a returning starter who averaged 9.7 points and 3.0 assists per game in 2008-09. Sophomore forward Marcus Morris is another returning starter who averaged 7.4 points and 4.7 rebounds his freshman year. Kansas’ top reserves from last year include Tyrel Reed, Markieff Morris, Mario Little and Travis Releford. Expect freshmen guards C.J. Henry, his brother Xavier Henry, Elijah Johnson and freshman forward Thomas Robinson to also vie for playing time for KU.

About Fort Hays State

Located in Hays, and with an enrollment of 9,000, Fort Hays State returns three starters and five letterwinners from last season’s 20-9 team which tied for third in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association with a 12-8 record. Senior forward Tim Peintner (6-6) is the top returning scorer for FHSU with a 12.3 scoring average. He led the Tigers in rebounds with 7.1 rpg per game last year. Other returning starters include junior guard Corbin Kuntzsch (6-4), who averaged 10 points and 5.6 rebounds last year and senior forward Ryan Herrman (6-6), who averaged 7.2 ppg and 6.2 rpg last season.

The Series

Kansas leads the series with Fort Hays State 6-0, including three exhibition contests. KU and FHSU last met in the 2007 exhibition season, a KU 93-56 win in Lawrence. The series dates back to 1994 and Kansas has scored in the 90s against the Tigers in all but one of the meetings.