Kansas basketball has a big week in front of it in Las Vegas at the Players Era Festival, where the Jayhawks will try to build on their massive win against Kentucky with another against UNLV.
Kansas won the Player Era Festival last year, with wins over Notre Dame, Syracuse, and Tennessee. This season, KU gets UNLV in the first round and either Big 12 foe, West Virginia, or Auburn in the second round. The other side of the bracket has Florida, Houston, Rutgers, and Notre Dame. Depending on how things play out, it is possible to see Kansas play either Florida or Houston in the finals, but only if KU wins its first two games.
The Jayhawks are flying high after their 20-point drubbing of Kentucky Tuesday in the Champions Classic. Head coach Bill Self and his staff need to keep the team focused because the Players Era Festival will be a three-day grind against tough teams each game. There are enough veterans on the Kansas roster who should be able to keep their younger teammates focused on the game in front of them and not on the games in the past.
The players seemed to simply have fun against Kentucky, and meshed extremely well as a team. If that chemistry can continue, there isn't much a team with this much talent can't do. For Kansas to win out in Las Vegas, they will have to go against some of the best teams in the nation, and the joy and intensity from the Kentucky game will need to be carried through the Players Era Festival.
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Kansas vs. UNLV: When and where
The first-round game between Kansas and UNLV is scheduled to tip off at 8:30 pm CT. Don't be shocked if the game time is pushed back significantly, as these types of events seldom start on time because games before tend to run long. The game will be played in the Michelob Ultra Arena, which seats 12,000 people. It is in the Mandalay Casino and Resort, on the Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Where to watch Kansas vs. UNLV in the Players Era Festival
The game between the Kansas Jayhawks and the UNLV Runnin' Rebels will air on ESPN. It can be streamed on FuboTV or Disney+ with an ESPN package. Subscriptions are required for both services.
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PHOGGY NOTES
- Kansas has played UNLV in basketball only two other times. The first time was in 1989, in Roy Williams' second season, meeting in the preseason NIT when the Jayhawks beat the number-one-ranked Runnin' Rebels 91-77. They met again in Las Vegas in 2016 when KU won 71-53.
- Kansas is averaging 91 points in the three wins against Fordham, Middle Tennessee, and Kentucky. Defensively, the Jayhawks give up an average of 59.6 points per game.
- Three players average double-digit points: Tre White leads the team in scoring, dropping 20.3 points per game, Tyran Stokes adds 15.3, and Trey Kaufman-Renn averages 12.7.
- Stokes leads the team in rebounds, pulling down 7.3 a game, followed by Keanu Dawes with 7.0 and Kaufman-Renn with 5.0.
- With Melvin Council Jr. out for several weeks with a foot injury, Self appears to have settled into a nine-man rotation. Don't look for that to change; Self will need to play plenty of guys in the grueling Players Era event.
The Jayhawks have enough talent to compete against anyone they might face in the Players Era Festival. KU needs to continue to get better and have fun, as they did against Kentucky. Everyone should have a pretty good idea about Kansas by the end of the event.
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