Kansas, the No. 4 seed in the East Regional, will begin the NCAA Tournament with No. 13 Cal Baptist (25-8) on Friday in San Diego. The game is scheduled for 8:45 p.m. Central time and will be televised on CBS.
Cal Baptist is in its 13th season under head coach Rick Croy, whose time as the head of the Lancers dates back to when the Lancers were a member of the Pacific West Conference in NCAA Division II. According to KenPom, the Lancers are 106th in net rating and rank 50th in adjusted defensive efficiency.
A 13-5 record in Western Athletic Conference play allowed Cal Baptist to enter the conference tournament as the No. 2 seed. In the semifinals of the WAC tournament, the Lancers took down Utah Tech, 86-72.
The Lancers earned the WAC’s automatic bid and their first NCAA Tournament appearance after defeating top-seeded Utah Valley in the tournament championship game, 63-61, thanks to the herculean efforts of graduate guard Dominique Daniels Jr.
Daniels Jr., the WAC player of the year, led the conference in scoring and is fifth nationally with 23.2 points per game and matched his average in the WAC final with 23. The Compton, California, native also averages 3.7 rebounds and 3.2 assists per contest.
Cal Baptist has one additional player averaging double figures entering March Madness, that being senior guard Martel Williams (12.7 points per game). In his second season with the Lancers after transferring from Utah State University Eastern, Williams added 4.9 rebounds per game.
Three Lancers ranked in the top 10 in rebounding in the WAC, led by Oregon State transfer Thomas Ndong (6.6, third), closely followed by junior forward Jonathan Griman (5.9, seventh) and 7-foot forward Bradey Henige (5.5, ninth).
The Lancers finished the non-conference portion of their schedule 10-3, with losses to Big 12 Conference opponents Colorado, BYU, and Utah.
January wasn’t a kind month to Cal Baptist at first, as it dropped its first three games in conference play. The Lancers quickly regrouped, winning their next nine.
After losses in their next two games following the winning streak, they finished the regular season with four straight wins before winning two more games in the conference tournament.
The Lancers ranked second of seven teams in points allowed, giving up just 67.6 points per game. They were also first in the conference in both rebounding (39.9) and rebounding margin (plus 7.4). Offensively, they were fourth in the conference with 73.0 points per game and ranked last in field goal percentage, shooting 43.2%. Throughout the season, Cal Baptist did a decent job of taking care of the ball, averaging the fewest turnovers per game in the WAC (12.4).
The Jayhawks enter the tournament with a 23-10 record as a No. 4 seed for the second time in three seasons after being on the same line in 2024. A win for KU would mean a matchup with either No. 5 St. John’s or No. 12 Northern Iowa on Sunday.
California Baptist head coach Rick Croy shows his displeasure of a foul call during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Texas, Wednesday, Nov. 24, 2021, in Austin, Texas.
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Reasons KU could win it all — or not
How KU’s highest-ranked one-and-dones have fared in March
Melvin Council Jr.: The making of an all-time fan favorite
Extras
KU women’s basketball accepts WBIT invite
KU’s history as No. 4 seed, in San Diego and Washington
Forgotten moments from the 2025-26 season
AP Photo/Tyler Tate
AP Photo/Michael Thomas