# 1989–90 Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball team

The 1989–90 Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball team represented the University of Kansas in the 1989–90 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, which was the Jayhawks' 92nd basketball season. The head coach was Roy Williams, who served his 2nd year at KU. The team played its home games in Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kansas. The team set an NCAA record for largest unranked to ranked jump. Following the preseason NIT, where the Jayhawks defeated the 2nd, 1st, and 25th ranked teams in the nation, the Jayhawks jumped to the 4th ranked team in the nation. They remained in the top two for the remainder of the regular season. The season also marked the beginning of an NCAA-record 32 consecutive NCAA tournament appearances that as of the 2023 tournament (there was no tournament in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic) is still active. The Jayhawks 150–95 victory over Kentucky on December 9, remains the most points scored in a game in Kansas basketball history and the worst defeat in Kentucky's history.

## Roster

| Name | # | Position | Height | Weight | Year | Home Town |
| Todd Alexander | 35 | Guard | 6–2 | 190 | Freshman | McPherson, Kansas |
| Terry Brown | 3 | Guard | 6–1 | 185 | Junior | Clyde, New York |
| Rick Calloway | 20 | Forward | 6–6 | 190 | Senior | Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Jeff Gueldner | 33 | Guard/Forward | 6–5 | 190 | Senior | Charleston, Illinois |
| Alonzo Jamison | 24 | Forward | 6–5 | 235 | Sophomore | Santa Ana, California |
| Adonis Jordan | 30 | Guard | 5–11 | 160 | Freshman | Reseda, California |
| Mike Maddox | 32 | Forward | 6–7 | 210 | Junior | Oklahoma City, Oklahoma |
| Pekka Markkanen | 44 | Center | 6–10 | 215 | Junior | Jyvaskyla, Finland |
| Macolm Nash | 43 | Forward | 6–7 | 195 | Sophomore | St. Louis, Missouri |
| Kevin Pritchard | 14 | Guard | 6–3 | 180 | Senior | Tulsa, Oklahoma |
| Mark Randall | 42 | Forward | 6–9 | 230 | Junior | Englewood, Colorado |
| Kirk Wagner | 31 | Forward | 6–7 | 210 | Junior | Pasadena, California |
| Freeman West | 34 | Forward | 6–5 | 210 | Senior | East Chicago, Indiana |
| Eric Ridenour | 40 | Forward | 6–5 | 205 | Junior | Cimarron, Kansas |

## Big Eight Conference standings

| # | Team | Conference | Pct. | Overall | Pct. |
| 1 | Missouri | 12–2 | .857 | 26–6 | .813 |
| 2 | Oklahoma | 11–3 | .786 | 27–5 | .844 |
| 3 | Kansas | 11–3 | .786 | 30–5 | .857 |
| 4 | Kansas State | 7–7 | .500 | 17–15 | .531 |
| 5 | Oklahoma State | 6–8 | .429 | 17–14 | .548 |
| 6 | Iowa State | 4–10 | .286 | 10–18 | .357 |
| 7 | Nebraska | 3–11 | .214 | 10–18 | .357 |
| 8 | Colorado | 2–12 | .143 | 12–18 | .400 |

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| 11/15/1989* | | UAB Preseason NIT First Round | W 109–83 | 1–0 | Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, KS |
| 11/16/1989* | | at No. 2 LSU Preseason NIT Second Round | W 89–83 | 2–0 | Pete Maravich Assembly Center Baton Rouge, LA |
| 11/22/1989* | | vs. No. 1 UNLV Preseason NIT Semifinals | W 91–77 | 3–0 | Madison Square Garden New York, NY |
| 11/24/1989* | | at No. 25 St. John's Preseason NIT Championship Game | W 66–57 | 4–0 | Madison Square Garden New York, NY |
| 11/30/1989* | No. 4 | Idaho | W 87–58 | 5–0 | Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, KS |
| 12/2/1989* | No. 4 | UMBC | W 86–67 | 6–0 | Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, KS |
| 12/4/1989* | No. 4 | Tennessee-Martin | W 103–48 | 7–0 | Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, KS |
| 12/6/1989* | No. 2 | at SMU | W 86–53 | 8–0 | Moody Coliseum University Park, TX |
| 12/9/1989* | No. 2 | Kentucky | W 150–95 | 9–0 | Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, KS |
| 12/16/1989* | No. 2 | Pepperdine | W 98–73 | 10–0 | Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, KS |
| 12/22/1989 | No. 2 | Arizona State | W 90–67 | 11–0 | Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, KS |
| 12/29/1989* | No. 2 | vs. UTSA | W 103–83 | 12–0 | Kemper Arena Kansas City, MO |
| 12/30/1989 | No. 2 | vs. Stanford | W 83–61 | 13–0 | Kemper Arena Kansas City, MO |
| 1/4/1990* | No. 2 | at Wichita State | W 93–66 | 14–0 | Levitt Arena Wichita, KS |
| 1/6/1990* | No. 2 | Winthrop | W 94–54 | 15–0 | Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, KS |
| 1/8/1990 | No. 2 | at Nebraska | W 98–93 | 16–0 | Bob Devaney Sports Center Lincoln, NE |
| 1/10/1990* | No. 1 | at Miami | W 100–73 | 17–0 | Miami Arena Miami, FL |
| 1/13/1990 | No. 1 | Oklahoma State | W 91–77 | 18–0 | Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, KS |
| 1/18/1990* | No. 1 | Elizabeth City State | W 132–65 | 19–0 | Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, KS |
| 1/20/1990 | No. 1 | at No. 4 Missouri Border War | L 87–95 | 19–1 | Hearnes Center Columbia, MO |
| 1/27/1990 | No. 2 | at Kansas State Sunflower Showdown | W 85–57 | 20–1 | Bramlage Coliseum Manhattan, KS |
| 1/31/1990 | No. 2 | Colorado | W 90–69 | 21–1 | Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, KS |
| 2/3/1990 | No. 2 | No. 9 Oklahoma | W 85–74 | 22–1 | Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, KS |
| 2/7/1990 | No. 2 | at Oklahoma State | W 83–76 | 23–1 | Gallagher-Iba Arena Stillwater, OK |
| 2/10/1990 | No. 2 | at Iowa State | W 88–83 | 24–1 | Hilton Coliseum Ames, IA |
| 2/13/1990 | No. 1 | No. 2 Missouri Border War | L 71–77 | 24–2 | Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, KS |
| 2/17/1990 | No. 1 | Nebraska | W 94–67 | 25–2 | Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, KS |
| 2/21/1990 | No. 2 | at Colorado | W 103–71 | 26–2 | Coors Events Center Boulder, CO |
| 2/24/1990 | No. 2 | Kansas State Sunflower Showdown | W 70–58 | 27–2 | Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, KS |
| 2/27/1990 | No. 1 | at No. 5 Oklahoma | L 78–100 | 27–3 | Lloyd Noble Center Norman, OK |
| 3/3/1990 | No. 1 | Iowa State | W 96–63 | 28–3 | Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, KS |
| Big Eight Tournament ||||||
| 3/9/1990 | No. 2 | vs. Iowa State Quarterfinals | W 118–75 | 29–3 | Kemper Arena Kansas City, MO |
| 3/10/1990 | No. 2 | vs. No. 1 Oklahoma Semifinals | L 77–95 | 29–4 | Kemper Arena Kansas City, MO |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| 3/16/1990* | (2 E) No. 5 | vs. (15 E) Robert Morris First Round | W 79–71 | 30–4 | Omni Coliseum Atlanta, GA |
| 3/18/1990* | (2 E) No. 5 | vs. (7 E) UCLA Second Round | L 70–71 | 30–5 | Omni Coliseum Atlanta, GA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll, NCAA tournament seeds shown in parentheses. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Standard Time. ||||||

## Rankings

| Poll | Pre | Wk 1 | Wk 2 | Wk 3 | Wk 4 | Wk 5 | Wk 6 | Wk 7 | Wk 8 | Wk 9 | Wk 10 | Wk 11 | Wk 12 | Wk 13 | Wk 14 | Wk 15 | Wk 16 |
| AP | | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| Coaches | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
*There was no coaches poll in week 1.