The Kansas basketball team faces Cal Baptist in the first round of the 2026 NCAA Tournament in San Diego on Friday. While this is a game the Jayhawks should win, the Lancers do offer some challenges for KU.
As of Tuesday morning, BetMGM had the Jayhawks listed as a 14.5-point favorite, and considering how KU has played recently, that's probably a fair line.
Still, the Cal Baptist squad has some aspects to their game that have proven problematic for KU. The Jayhawks will need to overcome these unexpected challenges if they want to advance to round two. Head coach Bill Self and his staff will have their work cut out for them in getting the Jayhawks ready.
Two challenges for the Kansas Jayhawks against Cal Baptist in the round of March Madness
The Lancers have three players who are six-foot-ten or taller. Jonathan Griman, Bradley Henige, and Thomas Ndong all average over 17 minutes a game, and all have started at least 14 games. It's obvious that these three rotate in and out.
None have impressive offensive numbers. As a group, they combined to average 16 points a game. They complement Dominique Daniels Jr. well. Daniels scores 23.2 points a game, so the three big guys serve as secondary scorers on this team.
The Lancers, however, are a good rebounding team, and the three big guys combine to average 17.4 boards a game, and as a team, Cal Baptist averages 39.9 rebounds per contest. This ranks the Lancers as the 21st-best rebounding team in the nation. They also hold opponents to 32.6 rebounds per game, the 71st-best mark.
The Jayhawks haven't fared particularly well with teams with physical interior players who attacked the boards. The Kansas guards will have to help out Flory Bidunga and Bryson Tiller if they hope to compete on the glass.
The second area of concern is that Cal Baptist is elite when it comes to defending the three-point line. They allow only 5.3 made threes a game, which is the second-best mark in the nation. Opponents connect on just 29.7 percent of all three-point attempts, which is eighth in the country.
Kansas, on the other hand, does not make many threes and doesn't shoot them particularly well. The 7.4 made threes a game ranks KU 221st, and their 35 percent success rate from behind the arc is 123rd in the country.
If Kansas is going to win this game, they will have to attack the rim with their guards and crash the boards from all positions. KU should have better athletes, tested by one of the hardest schedules in the nation, and that should be their advantage.
It is worrisome that the Lancers' biggest strengths match up with the Jayhawks' biggest weaknesses. KU should still be able to win this game, despite the Lancers' history of rebounding well and guarding the perimeter. It will not be easy, but KU's superior overall talent should win the day.
Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
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