photo by: Journal-World

Allen Fieldhouse as seen from above during the first half of KU's home game with George Mason on Saturday, Jan. 1, 2022.

Even with bitterly cold temperatures and winter weather headed toward Lawrence, Kansas basketball coach Bill Self said Tuesday he was not worried about the status of Thursday’s home game against Harvard.

“We know it’s going to be cold, but cold never called off a basketball game before,” Self said. “So, as long as we’ve got heat in the building, we’ll be playing.”

Just northeast of Kansas, Iowa State University canceled both a men’s basketball game slated for Wednesday and a women’s basketball Thursday because of a winter storm bound for Ames, Iowa, that is calling for 6-10 inches of snow.

The forecast for Lawrence is calling for a high temperature of 4 degrees on Thursday, with a low of -6 degrees and 1-3 inches of snow.

The outlook for the KU-Harvard game is more promising than it could be because Harvard was in California on Tuesday night for a road game at UC-Irvine.

Harvard sports information director Nick Dow told the Journal-World on Tuesday that the team would fly directly from California to the Midwest on Wednesday on a commercial flight scheduled to arrive at Kansas City International Airport around 7 p.m.

As long as Tommy Amaker’s team can arrive as scheduled, Self said he expects them to get the full Allen Fieldhouse treatment on Thursday night.

“We’ll have a good crowd,” he said. “And, hopefully, if something happens where we have the feeling where it’s not going to be because of weather, then the administration will be creative in figuring out a way to get some people here. But I anticipate our fans turning out just like they always do. The students won’t be here, you know. They’re gone for Christmas. But I’m sure we’ll have a nice turnout.”

Thursday’s game against Harvard is the second of the current winter break at KU. Last Saturday, during an 84-62 win over Indiana, Self said he was disappointed by the fact that a good chunk of the northwest corner of Allen Fieldhouse featured empty seats because of no-shows. In addition, it appeared as if several KU fans sold their tickets to IU fans, who wore Indiana red in support of the visitors.

Regardless of who shows up and who doesn’t, Self said he was looking forward to finally getting a chance to play Harvard again after two previous attempts to schedule the game were canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We’re excited about the game Thursday and excited about playing,” Self said.