Kansas guard Tre White (3) delivers a dunk as Kansas guard Melvin Council Jr. (14) celebrates late in the game against BYU on Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026 at Allen Fieldhouse. Photo by Nick Krug

Even as several other longtime Kansas men’s basketball streaks have fallen by the wayside, the Jayhawks still haven’t lost a home finale since 1983.

They also haven’t lost to rival Kansas State at Allen Fieldhouse since Clent Stewart, Cartier Martin and company pulled off a comeback win for the Wildcats on Jan. 14, 2006.

With KU looking to bounce back after a winless two-game trip to Arizona, those streaks will be on the line as the Jayhawks look for a season sweep of K-State on Saturday at 1 p.m.

“We get a chance to play our rival in the last game,” KU coach Bill Self said. “If it was somebody other than their rival, I could personally see that maybe it doesn’t appear like you’re playing for as much, but … playing for a four or a three seed, and the fact that it’s K-State, I think everybody should be excited about that, plus senior day.”

Added fifth-year senior guard Melvin Council Jr.: “We got something to lose, and that’s getting that double bye in the Big 12 tournament. They’re going to come ready to play and we’re going to come ready to play too.”

The Jayhawks find Kansas State in a considerably different place than they left it. Three weeks after KU embarrassed K-State with an 86-62 result at Bramlage Coliseum, KSU athletic director Gene Taylor fired Jerome Tang — for cause, Taylor said, based on comments Tang had made about how his players didn’t deserve to wear the jersey after a blowout loss to Cincinnati on Feb. 11, which Taylor claimed brought embarrassment to the university.

When Tang was dismissed, the Wildcats were 10-15 overall and 1-11 in league play. Since Matthew Driscoll, the former head coach at North Florida, took over as interim coach, K-State is 2-3. The Wildcats dominated Baylor in Driscoll’s opener, lost three straight and then, despite lacking top scorer P.J. Haggerty on Tuesday, managed to beat West Virginia 65-63 in a game that featured a 21-0 run for K-State.

“I was actually very impressed with their win against West Virginia the other day,” Self said, “because they were able to guard a team that we didn’t guard very well at all, so their defense has obviously gotten better, and they did it without a guy averaging 23 a game.”

Haggerty had been dealing with an arm injury and missed a game for the first time all season as a result, but Driscoll expects him back for Saturday against KU. He’s not the only Wildcat who missed the first installment of the Sunflower Showdown. Forwards Khamari McGriff and Elias Rapieque have been back in action of late. Rapieque hasn’t played much, but McGriff, a UNCW transfer, tallied 18 points and seven rebounds in something of a breakout game against WVU.

“When we played them before, they didn’t have McGriff, and McGriff makes a difference,” Self said. “He gives them another big body and certainly a guy you have to guard around the rim and a guy that can guard us around the rim too.”

Abdi Bashir Jr., a high-volume 3-point shooter, hasn’t played since Jan. 17 due to a stress fracture in his foot. K-State is being careful with him and “it’s going to be a game-day, game-time decision until it’s not,” Driscoll said on Feb. 28.

Dorin Buca, a center who played extensively and had some success against KU in the first matchup, recently made his own return from injury. Wing Andrej Kostic, who had barely played before he made his first four 3s of the game against the Jayhawks, has become a more consistent rotational contributor under Driscoll.

Ultimately, though, it all starts with Haggerty, the nation’s third-leading scorer and the center of the Wildcats’ offense. He is putting up 23.7 points per game in league play and in fact tallied 23 against the Jayhawks in their prior meeting — just five in the first half, then 18 in the second as every other offensive option for K-State faded away.

With Bashir long absent, fellow guard Nate Johnson has been the Wildcats’ secondary threat. Haggerty had 30 in the Baylor game, but Johnson did one better with an incredibly impressive 33 to go with nine assists, six steals and five rebounds. A former player of the year and defensive player of the year in the MAC when he was at Akron, Johnson has scored in double figures for six straight games after a lackluster start to Big 12 play.

The frontcourt has not been quite as impressive with McGriff, Buca and wing Taj Manning, and even as it gets somewhat closer to full strength, KSU still ranks 14th in the 16-team Big 12 in both scoring offense and scoring defense in league games. It is also by far the worst rebounding team in the conference; Haggerty is the Wildcats’ leading rebounder on the season, while the 6-foot-7 Manning has paced KSU in league play with 6.3 boards per game.

The post-Tang Wildcats are 98th in Bart Torvik’s rankings since his firing compared to 101st across the first 25 games of the year, so even with the two league victories it hasn’t been a dramatic upward trajectory.

That doesn’t mean they can’t threaten KU on Saturday and try to steal the Sunflower Showdown at Allen Fieldhouse for the first time in 20 years.

NO. 14 KANSAS JAYHAWKS (21-9, 11-6 BIG 12) VS. KANSAS STATE WILDCATS (12-18, 3-14 BIG 12)

• Allen Fieldhouse, Lawrence, 1 p.m.

• Broadcast: CBS

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

SENIOR SENDOFF

KU will honor six seniors: Council, Justin Cross, Jayden Dawson, Wilder Evers, Nginyu Ngala and Tre White.

“I think it’s important to, as things move forward, to not totally lose sight of some things that actually may not appear to mean as much in real time but, looking back for these kids, it’ll be something that they never forget,” Self said. “I think it’s important.”

The quantity presents a bit of a challenge to the Jayhawks’ tradition of placing seniors in the starting lineup. Ngala will come off the bench, Self said. It’ll be the first start as a Jayhawk for Dawson and a rare opportunity for walk-ons Cross and Evers.

“Same approach as any other game,” Cross said, “just energy, effort, and doing whatever I can to help the team win.”

“Piggybacking off that,” Evers added, “I just feel like you just go out and play hard. It’s hard to really not mess up if you’re going as hard as you can, so just go out there and compete as hard as you can.”

Self expressed his specific appreciation for the pair for the work they’ve done in the shadows during their tenures (Evers all four years of his career, Cross since arriving from John A. Logan College).

“The other four, they’ve only been here for a short amount of time, but they’ve all done everything we’ve asked them to do and what we expected them to do, and a couple of them have maybe even surpassed what we thought,” Self said. “So yeah, I’m pleased with the group.”

Evers said he had fulfilled a “lifelong dream” by spending four years playing at KU.

“Best years of my life, for real,” Cross added. “Like Wilder said, the people that I met over here, the lifelong relationships and everything, and then the rich tradition of this school, it’s amazing.”

As for the postgame speeches, Council said he had a stutter when he was younger and is nervous about delivering his..

“I’m going to kiss the floor,” he said, “and (Darryn Peterson) said he’s not going to talk to me if I do, so just to let you all know, that’s definitely going to be my goal tomorrow: kiss the middle of the Jayhawk.”

KEEP AN EYE OUT

Law of averages: One of the strangest aspects of a generally bizarre loss to Arizona State was that KU turned a whopping 25 offensive rebounds, its most in a Big 12 game since at least 2008, into just six points. The Jayhawks won’t get that many chances on a regular basis, but K-State has struggled enough on the glass that the Wildcats will certainly concede their fair share of offensive boards. KU will need to take much better advantage of these opportunities on Saturday and entering the postseason.

Final cut: Self has said he wants to have four options from his bench: Elmarko Jackson, Jamari McDowell, Paul Mbiya against certain teams with big lineups and then either Jayden Dawson or Kohl Rosario. This game could be the last real chance for Dawson and Rosario to stake their claims. Rosario, who actually began the season as a starter, has generally gotten more consistent opportunities throughout the year, and Self has praised his work ethic. Dawson has proven to be a more consistent shooter, even though neither has played to his potential in that area. With Dawson likely to play more (and certainly earlier) than usual on his senior day, can he make a statement in whatever time he gets?

OFF-KILTER OBSERVATION

The group of six seniors KU will honor does not include a scholarship player who spent more than one year as a Jayhawk.