Kansas and Samford play in first round of NCAA Tournament

Samford Bulldogs (29-5, 18-3 SoCon) vs. Kansas Jayhawks (22-10, 10-9 Big 12)

Salt Lake City; Thursday, 9:55 p.m. EDT

FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Jayhawks -7; over/under is 153

BOTTOM LINE: No. 17 Kansas takes on Samford in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.

The Jayhawks' record in Big 12 games is 10-9, and their record is 12-1 against non-conference opponents. Kansas averages 18.8 assists per game to lead the Big 12, paced by Dajuan Harris with 6.3.

The Bulldogs are 18-3 against SoCon opponents. Samford averages 17.4 assists per game to lead the SoCon, paced by Rylan Jones with 4.7.

Kansas averages 75.3 points per game, 1.4 more points than the 73.9 Samford allows. Samford scores 17.3 more points per game (86.0) than Kansas gives up (68.7).

TOP PERFORMERS: Kevin McCullar is scoring 18.3 points per game and averaging 6.0 rebounds for the Jayhawks. Nicolas Timberlake is averaging 1.1 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.

Achor Achor is averaging 15.8 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.8 blocks for the Bulldogs. Jones is averaging 12.2 points over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Jayhawks: 4-6, averaging 66.7 points, 33.0 rebounds, 14.7 assists, 7.4 steals and 3.4 blocks per game while shooting 42.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 71.3 points per game.

Bulldogs: 8-2, averaging 82.6 points, 34.1 rebounds, 14.9 assists, 7.7 steals and 3.5 blocks per game while shooting 48.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 73.0 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.