Kansas

Did Kansas duck UConn in the Big 12/Big East Battle?

Published

1 year ago

December 7, 2024

Did Kansas duck UConn in the Big 12/Big East Battle?

Many in the college basketball world were hoping to see No. 1 Kansas make a return trip to two-time defending national champion UConn this season in the final year of the Big 12/Big East Battle.

A year ago, Kansas defeated UConn, 69-65, in an epic matchup of the last two national champions at Allen Fieldhouse. While the leagues do not generally schedule rematches the following year, it would have been a juicy national-television game between teams that, with UConn repeating as champs earlier this year, have won the past three national titles.

While UConn head coach Dan Hurley “absolutely” wanted the game, Kansas coach Bill Self “clearly didn’t want it,” a person with knowledge of the possible matchup told NJ Advance Media. But Self said he was unaware of any potential rematch with UConn.

“I’ve never heard that,” he told NJ Advance Media by text. “My scheduler never shared that with me.”

A Kansas spokesman said: “It’s really up to the two conferences. They set the schedules.”

Matt Norlander of CBSSports.com also has reported on his podcast that Self didn’t want the matchup, however.

Self, a two-time NCAA champion, is a highly impressive 23-8 against UConn, Kentucky, Duke, North Carolina and UCLA, and has shown no aversion to scheduling tough non-conference schedules. This year, Kansas already has beaten North Carolina, Michigan State and Duke.

A Kansas-UConn game would have a been a huge ratings draw for “Big Fox” this weekend, but Kansas is scheduled to visit Missouri on Sunday, which complicated the situation and forced UConn and Kansas to play midweek games in the challenge.

A year ago, UConn beat North Carolina at Madison Square Garden four days after going into hostile Allen Fieldhouse.

Instead of a Kansas-UConn game this year, No. 25 UConn hosted No. 15 Baylor and beat them, 75-72, on Tuesday, the same night that No. 1 Kansas lost at Creighton, 76-63. Both games were on FS1.

The only game in the battle airing on “Big Fox” is Saturday’s Kansas State-St. John’s game. The other games air on FS1, FS2 and the ESPN networks.

Kansas defeated Creighton, 73-72, in 2020 in Lawrence.

Ahead of this year’s Creighton game, Self was asked if he was surprised that his team wasn’t being sent to UConn.

“If you go back and look at it, didn’t we host Creighton here a few years ago, and in the same challenge?” he said. “And Marcus [Garrett] made two of three instead of three of three that would have sent it to overtime in that right at the very end the game. So we were fortunate to win that game in front of, you know, 1,500 people, and 900 were probably Creighton fans, if I remember, right?

“So … you know, disappointing that we didn’t get a chance to really play Creighton at home in a true home game. Also lucky that we won it, but I kind of figured that’s where the return game would go, but I didn’t have any say so on that. I don’t know who is Connecticut hosting this year.”

Self was informed by reporters at that press conference that UConn was hosting Baylor.

“Baylor … preseason top five or six, so I can certainly understand that,” Self said.

After this year, the Big East will be done with the Big 12 Battle, and it’s also no longer involved in the Gavitt Tip-Off Games.

That opens the league up for another challenge of some sort that has yet to materialize.

Big 12-BIG EAST Battle Results & Schedule

December 3

Villanova 68, No. 14 Cincinnati 60

Providence 83, BYU 65

December 4

No. 25 Connecticut 75, No. 15 Baylor 72

Creighton 76, No. 1 Kansas 63

Texas Tech 76, DePaul 62

No. 6 Iowa State 82, No. 5 Marquette 71

TCU 76, Xavier 72

December 6

West Virginia 73, Georgetown 60

December 7

Kansas State at St. John’s

Butler at No. 17 Houston

December 8

Oklahoma State at Seton Hall

Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting us with a subscription.

Adam Zagoria is a freelance reporter who covers Seton Hall and NJ college basketball for NJ Advance Media. You may follow him on Twitter @AdamZagoria and check out his Website at ZAGSBLOG.com.

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Kansas

RESULTS: NE Kansas high schools to play Friday after Tuesday sub-state wins

Published

11 hours ago

March 4, 2026

Press Room

RESULTS: NE Kansas high schools to play Friday after Tuesday sub-state wins

TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) – Below is a look at the results from Tuesday night’s high school basketball sub-state semifinals in Northeast Kansas.

Editor’s Note: This story will be updated with what schools are hosting when that information becomes readily available.

WIBW Scoreboard

BOYS

5A East Boys: Tuesday’s sub-state semifinal results

KC Washington 68, Highland Park 38
Shawnee Heights 49, De Soto 37 (will play Leavenworth Friday)

5A West Boys: Tuesday’s sub-state semifinal results

Topeka West 55, Hutchinson 32 (will play Bishop Carroll Friday)
Emporia 61, Great Bend 41 (will play Maize South Friday)
Seaman 73, Valley Center 51 (will play Hays Friday)

3A West Franklin Boys: Tuesday’s sub-state semifinal results

Burlington 60, Osage City 35 (will play Baxter Springs Friday)

3A Sabetha Boys: Tuesday’s sub-state semifinal results

Hiawatha 73, Oskaloosa 48 (will play Heritage Christian Friday)
Silver Lake 58, Sabetha 39 (will play Perry-Lecompton Friday 7:30 p.m.)

GIRLS

6A West Girls: Tuesday’s sub-state semifinal results

Washburn Rural 60, Wichita South 32 (will play Derby)
Topeka High 69, Maize 45 (will play Liberal)
Manhattan 67, Free State 21 (will play Wichita East)

4A East Girls: Tuesday’s sub-state semifinal results

Rock Creek 71, Parsons 23 (will play Tonganoxie)
Wamego 54, Labette County 33 (will play Bishop Miege)
Hayden 2, Athison 0 (will play Baldwin)

2A Eskridge/Mission Valley Girls: Tuesday’s sub-state semifinal results

Rossville 71, KC Christian 49 (will play Maur Hill-Mount Academy)
Lyndon 61, Jeff. Co. North 31 (will play Valley Heights)
Valley Heights 65, Doniphan West 41 (will play Lyndon)

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Kansas

Doe v. State of Kansas | American Civil Liberties Union

Published

23 hours ago

March 3, 2026

Press Room

Doe v. State of Kansas | American Civil Liberties Union

In early 2026, the Kansas state legislature passed SB 244, a law which prohibits transgender people from using public restrooms on government property that align with their gender identity and establishes a private right of action that allows anyone who suspects someone is transgender and in violation of the law to sue that person for “damages” totaling $1,000.

The law also invalidates state-issued driver’s licenses with updated gender markers that reflect the carrier’s gender identity. In February 2026, transgender people across the state received letters from the state Department of Revenue’s Division of Vehicles informing them that their driver’s licenses “will no longer be valid,” effective immediately. SB 244 also prohibits transgender Kansans – or those born in Kansas – from updating the gender marker on state-issued birth certificates and driver’s licenses in the future.

The same day SB 244 went into effect, the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Kansas, and Ballard Spahr LLP filed a lawsuit challenging SB 244 in the District Court of Douglas County on behalf of two transgender men who had their driver’s licenses invalidated under the law. The lawsuit charges that SB 244 violates the Kansas Constitution’s protections for personal autonomy, privacy, equality under the law, due process, and freedom of speech.

“The invalidation of state-issued IDs threatens to out transgender people against their will every time they apply for a job, rent an apartment, or interact with police,” said Harper Seldin, Senior Staff Attorney for the ACLU’s LGBTQ & HIV Rights Project. “Taken as a whole, SB 244 is a transparent attempt to deny transgender people autonomy over their own identities and push them out of public life altogether.”

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Kansas

Kansas City man sentenced for cocaine trafficking, possession of illegal firearm

Published

1 day ago

March 3, 2026

Press Room

Kansas City man sentenced for cocaine trafficking, possession of illegal firearm

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – A Kansas City man was sentenced in federal court for his role in a drug trafficking conspiracy and possession of an illegal firearm.

According to the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri, 22-year-old Antoine R. Gillum was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison without parole.

His sentencing stems from a June 2024 incident in a metro gas station. KCPD investigators contacted Gillum inside and found that he had discarded a 9 mm pistol in an aisle between the merchandise. He also discarded a pill bottle containing multiple illegal substances: cocaine base, oxycodone/acetaminophen and oxycodone.

Officers searched the vehicle Gillum had arrived in and found approximately 32 grams of cocaine base.

On May 6, 2025, Gillum pleaded guilty to one count each of possession with intent to distribute cocaine and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica Jennings. It’s a part of ‘Operation Take Back America,’ a nationwide Department of Justice initiative to eliminate cartels and transnational criminal organizations.

No further information has been released.

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