After a dominating 11-1 start to the season, UCF now faces its biggest test yet - a showdown with the No. 17 Kansas Jayhawks. UCF will open conference play against Kansas (10-3) Jan. 3 at 2:00 p.m. 

Kansas has had an impressive start to the season, navigating tough opponents despite being without their top prospect Darryn Peterson. Peterson, who has dealt with lingering injuries since arriving at Kansas, is still in consideration for the top selection in this year's upcoming draft. 

He has only been healthy for four of Kansas' 13 games, but has shined - averaging over nineteen points per game while shooting 52.8% from the field and 42.3% from 3-point range. His status for this upcoming game against the Knights is currently up in the air. Kansas head coach Bill Self spoke to media last Monday where he said that Peterson and his family are wanting to wait for him to be close to fully healthy again before suiting back up.

"They've (Peterson and his family) made a decision, which I don't disagree with it at all, that they want him to be, you know, as close to 100% as possible when he comes back and he's just not quite there yet," Self said. "But, its a day-to-day deal, so he will be."

In his absence, sophomore center Flory Bidunga has held it down for the Jayhawks, averaging 14.7 points per game on 62.3% shooting splits. He is also pulling down over nine rebounds per game while blocking over two shots and improving his free-throw percentage by 17 percentage points. 

Bidunga faced off with UCF three times last season in his freshman campaign, having the most impact in UCF's 91-87 loss at Allen Fieldhouse, when he filled up the stat-sheet. Bidunga scored 10 points while adding 11 rebounds, five blocks and two steals. He made four of his five shot attempts and both of his foul shots. 

Bidunga played just eleven minutes in the squads' third match-up in the Big 12 tournament, scoring six points and adding six rebounds.

The Knights will need to use their size and depth to attack Bidunga and try to get him into foul-trouble as Kansas struggles with depth at that position. They will also need to keep him off the glass to prevent second-chance scoring opportunities from shooters like senior guard Tre White and senior guard Melvin Council Jr. 

Two weeks ago, in a one-point overtime win against NC State, Council Jr. caught fire, making nine three-pointer en route to a 36 point performance.