Kansas head coach Bill Self talks with his players in the huddle during the second half on Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025 at Allen Fieldhouse. Photo by Nick Krug

The final game before the holidays, at least according to the conventional wisdom, is a traditional spot for a team to slip up, but that fate hasn’t befallen Kansas in recent years.

The Jayhawks took care of Ivy League foes Brown, Yale and Harvard over the last three seasons, albeit not always in the most impressive fashion, to enter the holiday break unscathed. The last time KU suffered a pre-Christmas letdown was in 2019, when it ranked No. 1 on the nation and fell 56-55 on the road at No. 19 Villanova — one of just three games that team lost all year before the pandemic cut its campaign short.

This time around, the team standing in the way of an unusually long layoff for the Jayhawks — they open conference play at UCF on Jan. 3 — is Davidson. KU has been involved in some memorable games against the Wildcats over the years, such as its 59-57 victory over Stephen Curry’s Cinderella team in the 2008 Elite Eight, or its 80-74 upset loss in Kansas City, Missouri, four seasons later. A good result for the Jayhawks on Monday night at Allen Fieldhouse would likely be one that is as unmemorable as possible.

Davidson ranked No. 125 in KenPom as of Saturday morning, which put it ahead of all the other mid-majors KU has faced over the course of its conference slate but also well below any of the power-conference foes. The Wildcats started 5-0, including a victory over ACC foe Boston College, before suffering a 94-60 neutral-site loss to Utah State. Back at home for five additional games before its trip to Lawrence, Davidson went 3-2, including its worst loss of the year on Thursday, 68-63 to KenPom No. 150 Temple in a game the Owls led by as many as 16.

Picked to finish 11th in the 14-team Atlantic 10 with no preseason all-conference selections, Davidson doesn’t currently have a player in the top 25 in its league in points, rebounds, assists or blocks. Contributions come from a wide variety of sources as six Wildcats average between 8.0 and 10.5 points per game. A whopping 11 are playing at least 10 minutes, although that number includes senior forward Sean Logan, who has not seen the floor since the USU loss on Nov. 23.

One quality that helps the Wildcats considerably is their high efficiency from beyond the arc at 38.0%, led by 6-foot-7 guard Hunter Adam (21-for-41 in just 16.7 minutes, 9.1 points per game) and 6-foot-4 guard Roberts Blums (14-for-37 in 18.5 minutes, 9.6 points per game). KU, of course, currently ranks as the best 3-point percentage defense in the nation, as it allows opponents to make just 24.1% of their 3s.

Davidson’s top scorer at the moment is Josh Scovens, a 6-foot-6 forward who transferred in from Army last offseason after earning second-team All-Patriot League recognition. He averages 10.5 points per game but has only played more than 29 minutes in a game once.

Blums and redshirt freshman guard Nick Coval are playing as much as anyone, but the rest of the starting lineup alongside Scovens currently includes guards Devin Brown (a freshman), Sam Brown (a Penn transfer) and Parker Friedrichsen (a Wake Forest transfer), as well as Logan’s replacement, 7-foot Spanish freshman Ian Platteuw.

Needless to say, KU will have plenty of names to keep track of on its scouting report.

No. 17 Kansas Jayhawks (9-3) vs. Davidson Wildcats (8-3)

• Allen Fieldhouse, Lawrence, 7 p.m. Central Time

• Broadcast: ESPN+

• Radio: Jayhawk Radio Network (in Lawrence, KLWN AM 1320 / K269GB FM 101.7 / KKSW FM 105.9 / KMXN FM 92.9)

Keep an eye out

The big question: The availability of star guard Darryn Peterson will persist as a primary topic of concern entering any given game until Peterson both plays several games in a row and is able to make it to the ends of those games without cramping. KU thought it had a handle on Peterson’s health situation when he got over his hamstring strain, but then he was sick and easily exhausted in his return to action against Missouri on Dec. 7, and then he had to leave late due to quadriceps cramping against N.C. State six days later. The cramps made him miss Tuesday’s win over Towson altogether. As head coach Bill Self has said, the team needs to have an extended period of time to play together so that Peterson can understand when to allow his teammates to make plays the appropriate amount and the teammates know when to defer to Peterson. If he doesn’t go against Davidson, it’ll be another 12 days before KU returns to the floor.

Bench points: Self made an effort to incorporate some of his reserves, players like Samis Calderon and Jayden Dawson, for longer stretches of time in the victory over Towson, but none of them made a notable impact on the offensive end. Self said afterward he didn’t feel the bench played well with the exception of Elmarko Jackson. KU’s nonconference schedule has been so intense as to offer few opportunities to its bench players (at least those who haven’t earned increased time due to the absence of Peterson). If the Jayhawks can build a comfortable margin on Monday, it might be the last chance for certain players to see significant action for a while, with Big 12 play about to begin.

The missing piece: For all of KU’s success on defense — at least in terms of first-shot defense — during its nonconference schedule, it still doesn’t create much havoc. The Jayhawks are forcing 8.9 turnovers per game, the third-worst mark in the nation. That doesn’t do them any favors as they look to play faster and get out and run on offense.

Off-kilter observation

While KU hasn’t played against Davidson for nine years, it’s not a new foe for some of this year’s Jayhawks who previously played in the Atlantic 10. Jayden Dawson faced the Wildcats four times when he was at Loyola-Chicago, including when he put up 24 points with five 3s on Feb. 18. Melvin Council Jr. also took on Davidson and scored 15 on March 8 during his lone year at St. Bonaventure.