Cole Aldrich noticed two things when he found his seat on an airplane headed to Kansas City from Minneapolis after winter break.

First, he realized it was on an exit row. Then, he saw an unlikely companion sitting in the seat next to his. It was Kansas State forward Darren Kent.

“Oh, jeez,” Aldrich, a sophomore center, said. “I’ve got to sit next to another K-State guy?”

Kent laughed before offering a retort.

“Oh,” Kent said, “I’ve got to sit next to a Kansas guy?”

Aldrich said they spent the flight joking with each other and occasionally trash talking. It was all in good fun, of course. Aldrich and Kent’s rivalry always has been.

The two competed in the same conference in high school. Aldrich played for Jefferson in Bloomington, Minn., and Kent for Eastview in Apple Valley, Minn. — both cities are southern suburbs of Minneapolis.

Aldrich said their schools played against each other four times when they both were in high school, and he thought they each won twice. Since coming to Kansas, Aldrich and Kent have faced each other three times. Aldrich’s Jayhawks have won twice. Kent’s Wildcats have won once.

Aldrich and Kent will square off again during Saturday’s game between Kansas and Kansas State at 2:30 p.m. at Bramlage Coliseum.

“I’ve played against him since my freshman year of high school so it’s just a fun way to see another Minnesota guy I played with,” Aldrich said. “It’s good to see him doing well at another school.”

Kent and Aldrich have both excelled this season and played major roles in their teams’ successes.

Aldrich has started in every game for the Jayhawks (19-5, 8-1). He’s one of only two players in the Big 12 Conference — the other is Oklahoma’s Blake Griffin — averaging a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Kansas coach Bill Self’s only complaint with Aldrich is that he doesn’t get the ball enough. And that’s not even Aldrich’s fault. Self blames it on the guards for not passing into the post.

A key to the game Saturday will be the Jayhawks’ ability to find Aldrich — who will wear a new facemask Saturday to protect his broken nose — posting up on Wildcats like Kent.

“I think our big guys can certainly do a better job of making themselves available,” Self said. “But Cole, for the most part, does a good job of that. He’s a big target and he’s hard to guard.”

Kent’s emergence has coincided with Kansas State’s five-game winning streak. The 6-foot-10 junior struggled when the Wildcats (17-7, 6-4) lost 87-71 at Allen Fieldhouse a month ago with only three points and two rebounds in nine minutes.

Since then, Kent has scored at least 10 points in all but two games. He’s also averaging six rebounds.

Kent’s turnaround does not surprise Aldrich.

“Not at all,” Aldrich said. “I knew from last year’s season when he played well at the end of the stretch, when we played them and going into this year, I knew he was going to play well.”

Aldrich will likely be forced to guard Kent at times during Saturday’s game. Aldrich said that presented a challenge because Kent is smaller and has three-point range.

“He’s one of those where you have to get back in transition to find where he is,” Aldrich said. “And on pick-and-pops, you have to know where he is.”

If not, Aldrich might hear about it on the next flight back from Minnesota.

— — Edited by Liz Schubauer