Overview: In my story in Tuesday's paper I talk about senior co-captain Josh Duell's connection with historic Allen Fieldhouse.

Duell played his first collegiate game at No. 1 Kansas when he was with the University of Vermont.

Duell and the Catamounts almost pulled off the upset too, losing 67-61.

His connection isn't the only. Junior forward Alex Franklin told me he's played against the Morris twins, Markeiff and Marcus, who are both from Philadelphia.

Obviously the Saints will have their hands full as they travel to Lawrence to take on the defending national champions.

Siena seems to have turned a corner since losing three games in four days at the Old Spice Classic in November.

Since then, they are 8-1 and the only loss comes to newly ranked No. 1 (and first time in school history) Pitt (14-0).

While the Jayhawks still aren't ranked and lost all five starters from last season's title-winning team, they are definitely one of the best teams Siena will play this season.

"For us, I look at it as a great opportunity to measure our ability to stay composed on the road," Siena coach Fran McCaffery said.

This should be a good one.

Records: Siena 10-4. Kansas 10-3

The Series: These two teams have never met.

Player to Watch: Cole Aldrich, sophomore Kansas. Aldrich is still young, but you wouldn't know it. He's averaging 14.8 points and 9.6 rebounds per game. On Saturday, he scored 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds against Tennessee. Aldrich is 6-11, but is athletic and could have a big day against whoever Siena has to play up front.

X-factor: 3-point shooting: You can't win big games without getting big shots. Siena's shooting just 29.9 percent from beyond the 3-point line. In their four losses, the Saints are shooting 20.3 percent (12-59) from downtown. To go on the road against a more-talented team and win, you need to hit big shots. Tay Fisher proved he could do that and while Siena still has players capable of doing just that, they haven't shown it so far this season in a big, close game.

Injury Report: At this point it seems like everyone on Siena could be in this category and we joked about holding our breath when going into the locker room after the Saint Peter's game.

Apparently Duell and Ryan Rossiter (stomach bug) both feel better and should be able to play. Erik Harris (knee) and Cory Magee (concussion) probably won't see action.

Prediction: Kansas 77, Siena 71 (Call me crazy, but I see this game being close. My record is 11-3)

Overview: The Great Danes take on the defending national champions tonight at Allen Fieldhouse on ESPNU at 9 p.m. 

The Jayhawks lost all five starters from their title-winning team. All five were drafted and four of them are playing in the NBA, with Sasha Kaun now playing in Russia. 

UAlbany has won three games in a row and eight of their last ten in jumping out to the program's best start since turning Division I. 

The Great Danes are 0-2 against BCS schools so far this year, losses to Big East schools Villanova and DePaul to open the season. 

While Kansas isn't nearly as good as last year, the Jayhawks still are easily the second best team UAlbany has played behind 'Nova. 

Records: UAlbany 8-4. Kansas 8-3

The Series: These two teams have never met.  

Player to Watch: Sherron Collins, junior Kansas. Collins is averaging 17.8 points and 4.8 assists per game. UAlbany coach Will Brown said that when Collins struggles, so do the Jayhawks, so it is imperative they slow down the 5-foot-11 guard.  

X-factor: Rebounding. UAlbany is averaging +8.4 on the glass, while Kansas is +8.0. In the middle of that is 6-foot-11 sophomore Cole Aldrich, who averages 9.9 rebounds per game. The Great Danes have seven players who average more than 3.5 rebounds per game, but they are primarily guard. Brown has made it a team philosophy to send players to the glass and UAlbany has traditionally been a good rebounding team.  

Prediction: Kansas 79, UAlbany 60 (My record is 10-2)  

I guess I know why that motto comes from Kansas.

The Jayhawks come into Tuesday's game against the University at Albany with a 30-game winning streak at historic Allen Fieldhouse.

"Since I've been here, we've tried to play some tough teams on the road in some tough environments," UAlbany coach Will Brown said.

Check and check.

While Kansas, isn't ranked currently, the Jayhawks are the defending national champions and 8-3 on the season.

Last week, I asked Virginia transfer Will Harris what it's like when a mid-major comes in to take on a power school.

"Usually the typical mentality is we're playing against Albany tonight, they're in the America East Conference and we're going to play hard and we're going to get a 'W,'" Harris said. "You never really doubt yourself at all and that's probably how they feel right now."

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The game will be on ESPNU and here's what Brown and senior co-captain Brian Connelly had to say about that.

"It's good for your program and good for your university," Brown said. "It's one of those things where you're excited that you're playing on TV and you let all your recruits know, the kids that haven't signed with you and you hope you put your best foot forward."

"That's always fun because your family gets to watch you play without going, your friends call you up after the game and tell you how you got dunked on," Connelly said. "That's always fun to get that kind of exposure for our school and our program and help put Albany on the map a little more than it already is."

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I wrote a little bit in today's game advance about Cole Aldrich, Kansas's 6-foot-11 big man.

UAlbany's big man Brett Gifford played against him in an AAU Tournament at Allen Fieldhouse and the two know each other well.

Here's what Brown had to say about Aldrich, who is averaging 13.6 points and 9.9 rebounds per game.

"My assistant Pat Filien, who has the scout said to me, 'I noticed that Aldrich has struggled against guys his own size,' so I said sure, we'll take the two or three guys that are 7-feet, 290-pounds and just rotate them in to beat him up."

While Gifford is 6-11 and 260-pounds, he is by far the biggest player on the UAlbany staff.

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Louis Barraza is available after dealing with the flu and missing the past couple games.