Getty Kevin McCullar Jr.and the Kansas Jayhawks take on the Omaha Mavericks in the season opener.
The No. 5 ranked reigning champion Kansas Jayhawks (0-0) take on the Omaha Mavericks (0-0) on Monday, November 7.
Note: Heavy may earn an affiliate commission if you sign up via a link on this page
The game (8 p.m. ET start time) won’t be on a regular TV channel anywhere, but everyone in the US can watch Omaha vs Kansas live on ESPN+ right here:
ESPN+ will include hundreds of live college basketball games during the 2022-23 season, dozens of other live sports, every 30-for-30 documentary and additional original content (both video and written) for $9.99 per month or $99.99 per year (or $13.99 per month for a bundle of all three of ESPN+, Disney+ and Hulu).
Once signed up for ESPN+, you can watch Omaha vs Kansas live on the ESPN app or ESPN.com.
Compatible devices for the ESPN app include Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Firestick, Apple TV, Chromecast, PlayStation 4 or 5, Xbox One or Series X/S, any device with Android TV (such as a Sony TV or Nvidia Shield), Samsung Smart TV, Oculus Go, iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet.
Omaha vs Kansas Preview
Kansas is coming off an exhibition matchup against Pittsburg State. The Jayhawks won, 94-63, but a slow start made the team look like it was playing in quicksand in the first quarter. Kansas got behind early, falling into a 12-0 hole, and freshman forward Zuby Ejiofor finally ended the drought over four minutes into the game, scoring, the first points for Kansas.
“That was probably about as bad as we started in a long time,” Jayhawks head coach Bill Self said after the scrimmage was over. “But still, it was probably good for us. Good slap in the face and we kind of had to recover from it. So overall, that was I don’t think it’s bad. I thought there were a lot of things we can learn from.”
The Jayhawks rolled with a starting lineup that consisted of junior guard Dajuan Harris Jr., senior guard Kevin McCullar Jr., sophomore forward KJ Adams Jr., junior forward Jalen Wilson and freshman center Ernest Udeh Jr. in the exhibition, and came back to take a 39-34 lead at halftime before ultimately winning by 31 points.
Kansas, of course, took out North Carolina in the National Championship last year, but the team had several key losses this offseason, including Naismith & Wooden Award finalist Ochai Agbaji, two-year starters Christian Braun and David McCormack and backcourt standout Remy Martin, among others.
The’ll be facing a Mavericks squad that finished with a 5-25 record last season. Omaha averaged 69.6 points per game in the 2021-22 season while going 43.1% from the field on the year. Omaha hired Chris Crutchfield to be the team’s new head coach earlier this year, and the first-year coach says he’s trying to build a quality program, but cautions it won’t happen overnight.
“It’s like planting seeds for a flower,” Crutchfield said. “It doesn’t pop up right away. I think we’re in a plant-a-seed stage right now. You’ll see some growth, some blooming here pretty soon, but it’s gonna be a year or two. … That’s the only way you can build it. You can’t build it if you don’t spend time.”
The Mavs are coming off an exhibition of their own, beating Mid-America Christian, 96-71, on November 1. Luke Jungers led the way for Omaha with a game-high 22 points, while Jaeden Marshall and Frankie Fidler each chipped in 13 points apiece. Marquel Sutton and Tony Osburn also scored 12 points each, and Kennedy Brown added eight points and a team-high 10 boards.
The Jayhawks are favored by over 30 points in this one, so we’ll see if the Mavericks can make things interesting.