Champions Classic careers of current Jayhawks less than stellar

photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas guard Frank Mason III (0) has his shot blocked by Kentucky forward Willie Cauley-Stein (15) during the second half of the Champions Classic on Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2014 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Also pictured are Kansas guard Kelly Oubre Jr. (12) and Kentucky forward Alex Poythress (22).

photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas guard Frank Mason III (0) has his shot blocked by Kentucky forward Willie Cauley-Stein (15) during the second half of the Champions Classic on Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2014 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Also pictured are Kansas guard Kelly Oubre Jr. (12) and Kentucky forward Alex Poythress (22).

New York — The Kansas basketball program’s 1-4 record in the Champions Classic, which resumes tonight at Madison Square Garden in New York City, where Kansas will face No. 1 Duke at 8:30 p.m., hardly comes as a surprise when looking at some of the individual statistics in the showcase from some of the top players on this year’s squad.

Before finally breaking through with a victory over Duke in Chicago early in the 2013-14 season, the Jayhawks opened the six-year old classic with back-to-back losses to Kentucky and Michigan State in 2011-12 and 2012-13.

Two players from this year’s team — seniors Frank Mason III and Landen Lucas — played in KU’s lone victory at the event and they enter this year’s showcase game as two of the most experienced players on such a stage for either squad.

But experience does not make for good numbers and neither Mason nor Lucas has fared particularly well in this event during their Kansas careers.

Mason, who played 23 minutes as a true freshman in that win over Duke, is just 8-of-31 from the floor in three career Champions Classic games. He has played an average of 30 minutes per game and has recorded what would be considered impressive numbers in just two categories during that time — free throw shooting and rebounding.

Mason is 20-of-24 all-time from the free throw line in this event and also recorded a respectable five rebounds during last season’s six-point loss to Michigan State in Chicago. If there’s a silver lining surrounding Mason’s Champions Classic numbers, it’s that they have improved with each season. What’s more, he is by far the most accomplished Jayhawk on the current roster in the season kick-off classic.

photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas guard Frank Mason hangs for a shot against Duke during the second half of the Champions Classic matchup on Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2013 at the United Center in Chicago.

Asked this week what he remembered most about the Jayhawks’ win over Duke during his freshman year — this was the game that former Jayhawk Andrew Wiggins sealed with a transition dunk — Mason pointed to the obvious.

“I don’t remember much,” he said. “I just remember that we got the win. That was the most important thing. I think we played pretty well on the defensive end. We limited them to not too many second-chance shots and played pretty well on the offensive end.”

Like Mason, Lucas has appeared in each of the past three Champions Classic games, while junior guards Devonte’ Graham and Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk have played in the previous two. But none of them have approached the kind of minutes Mason has logged. Lucas has played just over 23 career minutes while Graham played 38 a year ago but just 14 the year before and Mykhailiuk has tallied a total of 35 minutes in his two games in the high-profile event.

Carlton Bragg Jr. — 4 points and 1 rebound in 11 minutes in last year’s game — is the only other Jayhawk on the current roster to have experienced this stage.

As a group, that foursome has combined to score 18 points on 6-of-29 shooting in all of those previous appearances. And of those 18 points, nearly a third came from the free throw line.

If the Jayhawks hope to tip their Champions Classic fortune to a more positive outcome, it’s going to take much better efforts than any player on the roster has given in this event to date, veterans and newcomers alike.