Colorado St.-Kansas Preview

Despite having yet to play its first true road game, Kansas is about to take the court away from Allen Fieldhouse for the fourth time in five contests.

This one, however, will feel much more like a home game.

The fourth-ranked Jayhawks travel to nearby Kansas City on Saturday night to face Colorado State for the first time at the Sprint Center.

Kansas (8-0) is 9-2 at the Sprint Center since its opening in 2007, which includes Big 12 championships in 2008 and last spring.

"The Sprint Center has been good to me so far, so I like it," junior guard Tyshawn Taylor said.

So far this season, the Jayhawks have been winning regardless of where they're playing.

After opening with four straight games in Lawrence, Kansas traveled to Nevada for the two-game Las Vegas Invitational. The Jayhawks returned home to face UCLA in the Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series before going to New York on Tuesday to square off against No. 13 Memphis in the Jimmy V Classic.

They were a little sloppy at Madison Square Garden, finishing with 22 turnovers - seven above their previous season high - but were bailed out by more hot shooting and defeated the Tigers 81-68. Kansas shot 57.1 percent from the floor and made 6 of 11 from 3-point range.

Strong shooting has fueled the Jayhawks' impressive start, as they have hit the 50-percent mark in each game and lead the nation in field goal percentage at 56.9. They are third in scoring at 88.8 points per game.

"For the most part we take good shots," coach Bill Self said.

Against Memphis, center Markieff Morris led the way with 16 points on 8-of-11 shooting, while twin brother Marcus added 14. Marcus averages a team-best 18.0 points and Markieff is second at 12.4.

The twins will be battling another big man who has been frustrating opponents in the paint.

Andy Ogide is averaging team highs of 17.5 points and 8.0 rebounds for Colorado State (4-2), and the 6-foot-9 senior leads the nation in field-goal shooting at 68.2 percent.

"This is a big game for us to keep momentum moving in the right direction," Self said.

The Rams are the only team from the current nine-school Mountain West Conference that Kansas hasn't played. The Jayhawks are 17-4 against the conference.

Colorado State will be facing a second straight Big 12 opponent after falling to Colorado 90-83 in overtime on Wednesday. Jesse Carr sent the game into overtime with a buzzer-beating layup, but the Rams never led in the extra period.

Travis Franklin led Colorado State with 19 points and Ogide added 17.

While the Jayhawks are playing their fourth game outside the state of Kansas, this will be the Rams' first trip outside Colorado following road games in Boulder and Denver. It also will likely be Colorado State's biggest challenge, facing a ranked opponent for the first time.

The Rams were outscored by an average of 24.0 points in losing three games to Top 25 teams last season, and they've dropped 10 straight to ranked opponents since a 60-48 win over No. 25 Air Force in the 2004 Mountain West tournament.