Buffs Wear Black: Historic Rivalry Set For Tuesday

Tuesday, January 20

Boulder, Colo.

9 p.m.

Colorado

Kansas

Buy Tickets

January 18, 2026 | Men's Basketball

Buy Tickets Donate To Men's Basketball

By: Troy Andre, Associate Director/Athletic Communications

Game 19 - Kansas, Tuesday, January 20, 2026

CU Events Center, Boulder, Colo.
Tip: 9:05 p.m. MT
Watch: ESPN (Jon Sciambi, Fran Fraschilla) https://buffs.me/460uzgJ
Radio: KOA 850 AM & 94.1 FM (Mark Johnson, Scott Wilke)
Listen Online: Sirius XM 380, SXM App 970 https://sxm.app.link/SXM970
Live Statistics: http://statb.us/b/611128

THE BUFFALOES: Colorado is 12-6 overall and 2-3 in Big 12 play, returning to Boulder after its first two-game true road trip of the season. The Buffaloes endured a pair of slow starts, but played competitive games in setbacks to Cincinnati (77-68) on Jan. 14 and their first-ever game at West Virginia (72-61) on Jan. 17. Colorado has dropped its last three, its longest stretch of the season, and five of its last seven.

Despite the recent slide, Colorado has matched its win total from the 2024-25, 31-game regular season (12-19). The Buffaloes are just one win away from matching their conference win total from a year ago. Colorado would finish with 14 overall wins after a pair of wins in the Big 12 Championship (14-21).

Colorado's offense has been strong ranking among the nation's best in several categories. The Buffaloes top the Big 12 and are 17th in the nation in free throw shooting at 77.8 percent. The Buffaloes also sport top 50 national rankings in free throws made (41st, 18.4), assist-to-turnover ratio (48th, 1.5) and field goal percentage (50th, .484).

SCORING BALANCE: Colorado has had at least four players score in double figures in 14 of 18 games, including the first nine. The Buffaloes have had four games with at least five scoring in double digits.

Colorado had only four games with four players scoring in double figures in 35 contests last year (3-1 record) and none with five. Prior to this season, the NCAA Tournament win over Florida on March 22, 2024 was the last instance of five double-digit scorers.

The Buffaloes have had five different players lead the team in scoring this season and four have had 20-point games. Freshman Isaiah Johnson led the Buffaloes for a team-best eighth time this season with 18 points off the bench against Cincinnati.

Colorado is averaging 34.2 points per game from its bench accounting for 41 percent of the team's scoring. The Buffaloes' reserves are shooting 46.8 percent from the field while also pitching in 12.4 rebounds per game.

Colorado's 34.2 bench points per game leads the Big 12 and ranks 26th in NCAA Division I.

Freshman Isaiah Johnson is Colorado's leading scorer at 15.8 points per game, making his first career start at West Virginia finishing with 12 points and a pair of assists. His 16.1 points per game average off the bench leads Power 4 Conference players and is third in NCAA Division I overall, trailing only Tarleton State's Dior Johnson (14.8 ppg) and Northern Kentucky's Donovan Oday (18.7 ppg).

Johnson is 17th in the nation, and third in the Big 12, in scoring by freshmen.

Johnson has a team-best four 20-point games, including 21 points against No. 14 Texas Tech. In that contest, Johnson was 13 of 13 from the line, marking the fourth-most free throws without a miss in team history and the most since Spencer Dinwiddie was 14 of 14 against Arizona State on Feb. 16, 2013.

Johnson leads the Buffaloes in free throws made and attempted, 3-pointers made (27) and steals (20) while ranking second in assists (39), 3-point attempts (61) and 3-point percentage (.443).

Johnson is sixth in the nation for free throws made by a freshman with 98. Overall, he is 17th in the country among freshmen in free throw shooting.

Junior Barrington Hargress leads Colorado in assists (84) and is second in steals (18) and field goal percentage (.551). He led the Buffaloes at West Virginia with 15 points and five assists.

On the Big 12 charts, Hargress ranks seventh in field goal percentage, fifth in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.2) and 11th in assists (4.7 apg). He is the top field goal shooter in the Big 12, and 13th in the country, from the guard position.

Hargress has eight games with at least five assists and also nin e games with no more than one turnover. His 3.2 assist-to-turnover ratio is the 28th best mark in the nation.

Sophomore Sebastian Rancik is second on the team in rebounding (5.4 rpg), free throws made (84) and attempted (96) and third in scoring (13.2 ppg), assists (36) and 3-point field goals (23).

Rancik leads the team and ranks second in the Big 12 in free throw percentage at 87.5 percent. He has made 84 of 96 from the line, which includes a string of 25-straight made between the Eastern Washington and UC Davis games.

Junior forward Bangot Dak leads the Buffaloes and is 13th in the Big 12 at 7.3 rebounds per game and sixth in blocks at 1.7 per outing. He is fourth on the team in scoring at 11.4 points per game while shooting 47.9 percent from the field.

Through the first five Big 12 games, Dak is seventh among all conference players in rebounding at 8.6 per contest. Dak grabbed a career-high 13 rebounds against Texas Tech, marking his fifth double-figure rebounding game of the year, third in a row and fourth in six games. All 13 rebounds were on the defensive side, the most defensive rebounds by a Buff since Jabari Walker had 14 (15 total) against California on Feb. 17, 2022. It was the most rebounds, without an offensive board, since Andre Roberson had 14 defensive against Dayton on Nov. 15, 2012.

Dak recorded 16 points and matched a career-best 12 rebounds against Utah.

Freshman Alon Michaeli is averaging 9.3 points on 44 percent shooting in his 16 games off the bench. He has scored in double figures in eight of those contests. Michaeli is ninth in the Big 12 among freshmen in scoring. He led the Buffaloes in rebounding at West Virginia with seven.

CU IN THE NET: A snapshot of Colorado's NET rankings in 2025-26 (through games of Jan. 17).

Current: 77 | Highest: 39 (Dec. 2) | Lowest: 84 (Jan. 1)

Opponent Net Rank: 51 | Opponent Avg. Net: 134

Quad 1: 0-3 | Quad 2: 2-2 | Quad 3: 6-1 | Quad 4: 4-0

ABOUT THE JAYHAWKS: Kansas is 13-5 overall 3-2 in the Big 12 and heads to Boulder on a two-game winning streak that includes an 84-63 win over then No. 2 Iowa State and Baylor 80-62. The Jayhawks are averaging 78.0 points per game, shooting 47.2 percent from the field. Kansas takes care of the ball on offense, only turning the ball over 10.3 times per game which is the second fewest in the Big 12. They take advantage of opportunities at the foul line, making 75.9 percent as a team which is second best behind Colorado in the conference. The Jayhawks are allowing 67.5 points per game, and have held opponents to 38.2 percent shooting which leads the conference and is seventh in the nation. Defensively, Kansas is at the top of the Big 12 in multiple categories. The Jayhawks lead in blocks with 6.3 also fourth in the country, 3-point percentage defense at 28.8 percent is 16th in the nation, and fouls committed at only 14.6 per game which sits at 15th nationally.

The Jayhawks are led by freshman guard Darryn Peterson who leads the team in scoring with 22.2 points per game, but has only been able to play in nine games due to injury. While under a minutes restriction in his last game, he scored 26 points in only 23 minutes against Baylor. He has scored over 20 points in six of his nine games and has yet to score less than 16 points in a game. Kansas has three other players averaging double figures in scoring: senior guard Tre White (14.9), sophomore forward Flory Bidunga (14.2), and senior guard Melvin Council Jr. (13.2). Bidunga leads the defense with 2.6 blocks per game, that mark leads the Big 12 and is eighth in the country. On the other side of the court he is efficient, making 65.5 percent of his shots, good for second in the Big 12 and 10th in the NCAA.

THE SERIES: This will be the 167th meeting between Colorado and Kansas, the most played series in program history. The series dates back to January 1931 and was played annually from 1947 through 2011 when the teams were together in the Big Seven/Big Eight/Big 12 Conferences. Last season the Jayhawks swept the season series including a 71-64 win in Boulder. Kansas holds a 126-40 all-time lead in the series including a 41-27 advantage in Boulder.