KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The University of Kansas men's basketball team is looking to head into the NCAA Tournament with some momentum after an up-and-down regular season.
First, the Jayhawks have to play UCF, a team with practically miniscule odds of making The Big Dance, for the third time this season in the 2025 Phillips 66 Big 12 Men's Basketball Championship.
UCF, the 14th seed in the tournament, defeated 11-seed Utah 87-72 on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Kansas comes into the tournament as the sixth seed, just like last year.
KU and UCF have a brief but chaotic history as opponents.
The Jayhawks lost the first-ever matchup against the Knights 65-60 in Orlando during the 2023-24 season.
Fast forward to this year, KU traveled to Orlando again on Jan. 5, this time winning by 51 points.
KU faced UCF 23 days later at Allen Fieldhouse and won 91-87 in a tightly-contested affair.
Center Hunter Dickinson led the team in points with 27 in the first matchup and 24 in the second.
Dickinson also averaged 8 rebounds and 2.5 blocks across those two games.
The newly minted All Big-12 First Team member is coming off a career-high 33 points against Arizona on Senior Day.
Fellow senior KJ Adams Jr. is averaging 9.5 points and 7 rebounds against UCF while Dajuan Harris Jr. put up 11 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists in his only game versus the Knights on Jan. 5.
The three men embraced for the final time in Allen Fieldhouse as the seconds ticked away on Senior Day.
They look to lead the Jayhawks past the Knights to cement a rematch against 3-seed Arizona.
Kansas will play UCF at 8:30 p.m. in the final game on Wednesday's Big 12 Men's Basketball Championship schedule. You can watch the game on ESPN2.
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