Samford Bulldogs vs. Kansas Jayhawks: NCAA Tournament starters, TV, tipoff time

THE DETAILS

When/where: 8:55 p.m. Thursday, Delta Center, Salt Lake City.

TV: TBS.

Radio: WHB (810) in Kansas City; ESPN Wichita (92.3 FM) in Wichita.

POSSIBLE STARTERS

About No. 13-seed Samford (29-5): This is Samford’s third trip to the NCAA Tournament; the Bulldogs previously played in the Big Dance in 1999 and 2000. As a 13-seed in 2000, Samford fell to No. 4-seed Syracuse, 79-65. As a 14-seed in 1999, Samford fell to No. 3-seed St. John’s, 69-43. … Samford has won four consecutive games since a 91-69 loss to Wofford on Feb. 28. … Purdue beat Samford, 98-45, on Nov. 6 in the Bulldogs’ season opener. … The last time Samford faced a Big 12 opponent was on Dec. 4, 2015 in a 59-49 loss at Texas. … The last time Samford played a game in the state of Utah was December 27 and 28, 1996. The Bulldogs met Portland and Texas State in a tournament at Utah State, falling in both games. … The Bulldogs won the Southern Conference regular-season championship (with a 15-3 record) for the first time since joining the league in 2008. … Samford gained the league’s automatic bid with a 76-69 win over ETSU in the championship game of the SoCon Tournament on March 11, in Asheville, North Carolina. … Samford ranks fifth in the country in scoring offense at 86.0 points per game. The Bulldogs also rank in the top 10 in the country in bench points per game (5th-33.38 points), turnovers forced per game (6th-16.62 per game.), effective field goal percentage (6th-57.3%), 3-point percentage (7th-39.3%), fast break points per game (7th-15.26) and winning percentage (8th-85.3%). … Bucky McMillan is 77-40 in four seasons at Samford. McMillan has led Samford to back-to-back SoCon regular-season titles and to its first SoCon Tournament title this season.

About No. 4-seed Kansas (22-10): This is the first meeting between the schools. … Kansas is making its 51st NCAA Tournament appearance and has a 112-49 record in the event. The Jayhawks have advanced to 31 Sweet 16 games and 15 Final Fours. KU has won the NCAA title in 1952, 1988, 2008 and 2022. … Since seeding in the NCAA Tournament began in 1979, KU enters the NCAAs a No. 4-seed for the sixth time, the first time since 2019. KU has been a No. 4-seed in 1994, 2001, 2004, 2006, 2019 and 2024. … KU is 36-2 in first-round games in the tourney since 1981. … KU is 8-5 as a No 4-seed; KU is 6-1 all-time against the No 13-seed. … KU has won its last 15 first-round games, a run that started in 2007. It doesn’t include the 2018 vacated win by the IARP. … KU is 8-6 in games against teams that have received bids to the 2024 NCAAs. … The No. 16-ranked Jayhawks have played No. 1 UConn, No. 2 Houston (twice), No. 4 Iowa State, No. 6 Tennessee, No. 8 Marquette, No. 12 Kentucky, No. 14 Baylor (twice), No. 21 BYU and No. 22 Texas Tech. The Jayhawks are 7-4 against ranked foes in 2023-24. … Kansas averages 75.3 points per game and has a plus-6.6 scoring margin. … The Jayhawks average 36.0 rebounds per game with a plus-2.4 rebound margin. … Kansas leads the country in assists per game at 18.8. The Jayhawks also lead the Big 12 and are 17th nationally in field goal percentage at 48.8%. KU also averages 7.3 steals and 3.9 blocked shots per contest. … Senior Hunter Dickinson leads the Big 12 and is eighth nationally in rebounds per game at 10.8. His 16 double-doubles lead the Big 12 and are 16th nationally. He leads the league with 14 games of 20 points or more and 17 games with 10 or more rebounds. Dickinson also leads KU with 43 blocked shots and has 29 steals. … Dajuan Harris is second in the Big 12 with 6.3 assists per game, which is 12th nationally, and fourth in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.8), which ranks 31st nationally.